Liverpool left-back Owen Beck will return to the club early from his loan spell at Blackburn, after suffering a second serious hamstring injury of the campaign.
Beck is set to report back to the AXA Training Centre to undergo treatment on a hamstring injury that will see him play no further part in Blackburn’s season.
The 22-year-old made his first appearance in almost two months when he returned to the starting lineup for Saturday’s clash with Portsmouth in the Championship, but only lasted 13 minutes.
Having previously spent six weeks out with the same injury, it is a frustrating blow for Beck which asks questions of Blackburn head coach Valerien Ismael.
“When you’ve got those profiles in your squad, then you can’t wait to see the player to try to do the job,” Ismael told the Lancashire Telegraph on Thursday.
“When you lose the player after 10 minutes, when he comes back, then it’s difficult. I was really excited to work with him, but unfortunately, it’s gone the other way.”
Ismael had already insisted he took no risk in starting Beck in his first game back, also telling the Lancashire Telegraph: “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.”
However it is hard to escape the feeling that Ismael took an unnecessary gamble on Beck’s fitness, with there a growing frustration among Blackburn fans over the use of his squad.
Beck is expected to miss eight weeks, which will take him to the end of May, with the focus now being on making a full recovery in time for pre-season.
His time at Ewood Park was productive despite its early end, with the Wales international making 25 appearances and clocking 1,963 minutes on the pitch.
Turning 23 in August, Beck is understood to have one year remaining on his contract as of this summer, which should prompt a decision over the left-back’s long-term future.
The likelihood is that he will be considered for a permanent transfer this summer, with it already known that Sheffield United – who are currently top of the Championship – hold an interest in both Beck and Lewis Koumas.
Liverpool have a total of 15 players out on loan at present, though striker Jayden Danns is still yet to join the Sunderland squad as he rehabs a back injury.
