Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong were both forced off during Liverpool's 2-1 victory at Brentford on Saturday, adding to the club's injury concerns ahead of a busy run of fixtures.
The Reds trailed at the Gtech Stadium after Keane Lewis-Potter's opener, but goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak secured all three points. However, the win was overshadowed by the two fresh injury setbacks, with matches against Villarreal and Brighton coming up this week and a Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea now just nine days away.
Szoboszlai reaggravates hamstring injury
Szoboszlai had been dealing with a hamstring injury that ruled him out of last weekend's defeat by Manchester City and the midweek rout of LASK. He returned to the starting XI against Brentford, but was forced off just half an hour into the match.
Speaking at full-time, Iraola confirmed the midfielder had reaggravated the same injury, saying: "He has tried, he has trained the last days, but we didn't know the minutes he'd have. It's not another injury, he's still not healed."
He seems set for a lengthy spell on the touchlines, with a potential return date unknown.
Frimpong forced off after six minutes
Frimpong came off the bench at half-time at the Gtech, but was forced off again with an injury just six minutes later. He went down holding his leg and hobbled off after receiving treatment, with Rio Ngumoha replacing him.
Iraola simply said he would be ruled out "for some time". It is another frustrating setback for Frimpong, who has spent much of his Liverpool career sidelined with hamstring injuries. His potential return date is also unknown.
Ekitike and Bradley progress in recovery
Hugo Ekitike remains in recovery after rupturing his Achilles back in April, but Iraola has confirmed he is progressing well in his rehabilitation programme according to schedule. A return to the pitch does not seem close, with a potential return date of late December or early January.
Conor Bradley is fast approaching a return from the knee injury he suffered against Arsenal back in January. He has been in rehabilitation at Kirkby for nine months, and Iraola confirmed he will return to partial team training soon.
"(He is) doing very well," said the Basque. "I think (he is) in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group." His potential return date is November or December.
Leoni suffers setback in ACL recovery
Giovanni Leoni, who tore his ACL on debut in the Carabao Cup against Southampton over a year ago, has suffered a setback in his recovery. Iraola confirmed his return to training has been delayed by about a month.
"The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it's going to be in the next international break, so we've lost one month in the process," he said. "Giovanni's injury, I wasn't here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL."
It is hoped Leoni can return to training during the November international break, with a potential return to the pitch before the new year.
