SETBACK! Blackburn Rovers boss’ injury update on Liverpool loanee

SETBACK! Blackburn Rovers boss’ injury update on Liverpool loanee

Valerien Ismael insists it was not a risk to play Owen Beck after the defender suffered a repeat of his hamstring injury.

The Liverpool defender returned to action against Portsmouth after eight weeks out with the issue. He lasted only 10 minutes before going off, visibly emotional as he went down the tunnel.

 

Ismael, though, refuted the suggestion starting Beck was a risk after a full two weeks of training during the international break.

 

“It disrupted our plans, Owen Beck has got a hamstring injury,” Ismael said.

READ MORE: ‘Expected much more’ – Valerien Ismael on Blackburn Rovers’ repeat problems

“So we need to assess him to see how he is. We assessed him the last three weeks and he trained the last two weeks. He made all the training sessions with high intensity. Very high numbers for the week.

“He got enough recovery in between, so it was not expected to have that result.”

Hamstring injuries are building up for Rovers. Beck, Augustus Kargbo and Emmanuel Dennis are now sidelined with that problem. Danny Batth, Lewis Travis and Sondre Tronstad have all suffered with that too.

 

“It’s a long process to see why it’s happened, but the best thing to do is always a good pre-season to make sure that the players are on the same level,” Ismael added on whether it was a growing concern.

 

“Otherwise, you are always chasing. You need the player to come back. Shall we take the risk or not?

 

“The season goes to the end, but it’s always the problem when you are chasing. It’s something we will take notice of that and we will bring this for the new season.”