Jake Livermore given time off to deal with mental fatigue

Tony Pulis says; ‘Physically he is fine but mentally, he just feels a little bit tired’

West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore insists his break from football is only to “rest his body” after fans voiced their concerns. Photograph: PA
West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore insists his break from football is only to “rest his body” after fans voiced their concerns. Photograph: PA

West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore insists his break from football is only to "rest his body" after fans voiced their concerns.

Baggies boss Tony Pulis said the 27-year-old England international, who was left out of the squad for Saturday's 0-0 Premier League draw with West Ham, would not train again until Thursday with the player feeling "jaded".

Livermore moved to reassure worried supporters that all was well via his Twitter account on Monday morning.

He tweeted: “Just to clarify, the club (both management and medical) made the decision it was the right and only time to take a few days off to rest my body.

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“I hadn’t had this time in summer due to international duties and then myself wanting to do a full pre-season with my then new team-mates.

“All is good in the Livermore household, but thanks for those who showed concerns.”

Livermore joined West Brom in an £8million move from Hull in January and will miss Wednesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City as a result of his lay-off.

Speaking after the West Ham game, Pulis said: “We had a chat with Jake at the beginning of the week.

“Jake came to see me. He has felt a little bit jaded, mentally more than anything else and we check all of his running stats, and his data, and he had dropped off a bit, so we are going to give him a couple of days off.

“We could have done with his energy today with the way the game went. We could have done with Jake.

“Physically he is fine but mentally, he just feels a little bit tired.

“I think for the first time going away with England during the summer and then having these two call-ups, I think playing all the time has really, really taken it out of the boy.

“And he is such a good player for us that we don’t want to risk him going into a deeper, deeper, deeper hole. He won’t play on Wednesday, but hopefully he will be ready to face Arsenal on the Monday.”

In 2015, Livermore escaped a ban despite testing positive for cocaine as he struggled to cope with the death of his new-born son.