Liverpool head coach Arne Slot issues an injury update on Curtis Jones, who was forced off in the first half of the pre-season clash with Real Betis.
Liverpool suffered an injury scare during Friday night’s pre-season clash against Real Betis, with Curtis Jones being forced off in the first half of the friendly match.
The midfielder limped off with an apparent muscular issue 30 minutes into what proved to be a 1-0 success for Liverpool, with Dominik Szoboszlai netting the only goal of the contest in the 34th minute.
Liverpool are due to face Arsenal in their next friendly on July 31 before tackling Manchester United on August 3 ahead of a return to England for the final stages of their pre-season.
Reds head coach Arne Slot admitted that it was “too early” to give an injury diagnosis when questioned in the immediate aftermath of the clash.
“I think it’s too early to tell [how bad it is]. He maybe could have played on, but I think maybe you could see he was not at 100%,” Slot told reporters in his post-match press conference.
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Jones limped off in the first half against Real Betis
“In a friendly game, with so many days coming up in our tour, it was best to take him off. Hopefully he can recover from [it] really fast, but we have to wait and see.
“We hope he recovers really fast so we can see him in the next few games.”
Jones was replaced against Real Betis by 17-year-old Trey Nyoni, with the midfielder given the chance to make an impression against the La Liga giants, and his performance was hailed by the club’s new manager.
“It’s always a pity if he (Jones) has to go out after 25 minutes, half an hour. And before that, you could see that he was not completely free,” added Slot.
“It was unfortunate because he had two really good weeks during the training sessions, so I looked forward to seeing him in the game, but unfortunately he had to go out.
We are waiting to discover the extent of the injury that forced Curtis Jones from the pitch during the first half of our 1-0 win over Real Betis ⤵️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 27, 2024
Slot praises Nyoni for impressive display
“The good thing about that was that we brought someone (on) that impressed me in the 45 minutes to an hour he played afterwards. That was the positive thing of Curtis going out for Trey, but of course for Curtis it’s a pity that he couldn’t play on.
“I think he (Nyoni) did really well today but it was only an hour. Like I said, he did well. He was one of the reasons why we scored the goal, because he turned really quickly and [played] a spot-on pass in between the lines. And he was also involved in the biggest chance in the second half.
“So he did well. But he’s just turned 17 and his body has to grow, and we are really careful with him. So he doesn’t join every session and sometimes he goes out a bit earlier because he only turned 17 and you can see his quality but you can also see his body still needs some time to grow to play at Premier League level. But he showed some interesting things today.”
Liverpool are building towards their 2024-25 Premier League opener against Ipswich Town on August 17, and their final friendly of the summer will take place against Sevilla on August 11.
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