Jürgen Klopp has suffered another grievous setback in his first week as Liverpool manager after Danny Ings suffered a knee injury that will rule him out for the rest of the season and effectively ends the striker's hopes of playing in Euro 2016.
Ings twisted his knee during his first training session with Klopp in charge and tests have shown that the former Burnley forward has ruptured his cruciate ligaments, meaning that a player who has just broken into England’s senior team will be out for a minimum of six months.
Klopp was already reeling from the news that one of his left-backs, Joe Gomez, had suffered the same injury while playing for England's under-21s, and Liverpool's new manager will now have to plan for his first season in charge without two of the club's summer signings.
Ings has scored three times for Liverpool so far this season and his impressive recent form saw him elevated into the England squad for the first time, making his debut as a substitute in the 3-0 win in Lithuania on Monday.
Roy Hodgson, the England manager, had identified Ings as a possible contender for the European Championship in France next summer, but the 23-year-old will now have a long period of rehabilitation and could conceivably be out for up to nine months.
Liverpool will also be without Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino for Klopp's first match in charge against Tottenham, though they are due to return to training within a week.
Facing the press in the build-up to the trip to London, Klopp said he wants to see “more bravery, more fun” in the eyes of his players, but added that it was too soon to impose too many changes on the squad.
Klopp told reporters: “I only think about what we have to do to be stable in a game. To close all the doors. We’re playing a very good Premier League team on Saturday who have been together a long time. We have to run and fight together.”
(Guardian service)
