Andoni Iraola has confirmed that Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong will be out for 'some time' after both Liverpool players came off injured during Saturday's 2-1 win at Brentford. The Reds completed a second-half comeback thanks to goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, the victory was marred by concerns over the fitness of the pair. Szoboszlai's return from a hamstring injury lasted just half an hour, while Frimpong managed only seven minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Delicate situation
Speaking after the match, Iraola described the situation as "very delicate." He explained that the team had been coming from a Champions League away game two days earlier, arriving home late at night with limited recovery time.
"You are in doubt between the players that have already started two games and are very tired, or the players that are recovering from injuries but you're probably not 100 per cent certain," the Liverpool manager said.
Different cases
Iraola clarified that the two injuries were different. "Dom felt the same injury, it's not a new injury and was probably not healed enough, so we will need more time with him," he said. "Jeremie's was new, I think he finished cramping the other day [against LASK]. I put him on because playing against 10, going forward I thought he could give us more than Ronald [Araujo]."
He added: "After, I value a lot and he was very good, Victor playing as a right-back. But it will mean we will lose Dom and Jeremie for some time, yes."
Composure issues
Barring the injuries, Iraola was largely pleased with the performance. Liverpool moved up to fifth in the Premier League table before hosting Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday.
"I think we played really well until the 2-1," Iraola told Sky Sports. "After that we started to protect something, I think we didn't manage the last minutes well. I think some of the players were seeing quite clear chances to finish the game that we haven't been able to finish. We lacked some composure on the ball. Sometimes it was just about keeping the ball more and not going for the goal with the first chance."
