Alexander Isak has left the Sweden squad after suffering a thigh injury during Friday's Nations League win over Romania, Liverpool confirmed he will return to the club for treatment.
The 27-year-old striker withdrew from international duty on the eve of Monday's game against Poland, with Sweden boss Graham Potter clarifying that the injury will keep him out of the remaining three matches of the September-October window.
Potter explains Isak's thigh problem
Although Isak was spotted with a bloodied toe after scoring in the 2-1 victory over Romania, Potter revealed the withdrawal was due to a thigh issue. "He's got a small problem with his thigh," Potter explained at his pre-match press conference. "It's not a big one but because of the amount of games we've got in a small space of time, he won't be able to make those."
"Not a big one but it's frustrating for him and obviously for us. It is what it is but we move forward with the players we have," he added. "It was during the game. Like anything, you sometimes get bumps and bruises in the game, you might think it's a bit of a dead leg or something. But actually as the 24 hours, 48 hours after the game, not quite what you think."
Sweden's squad depth tested
"Unfortunately after getting it checked out, it's a little bit more than what you think during the match. He has to miss the rest of the camp," Potter said. "Our medical team has been in contact with the club. Obviously it's our decision in the first place because of his status, in terms of his injury. Once that's the case, we have to inform everybody. That's just normal."
Potter acknowledged the difficulty of replacing the striker, stating: "We've got a really big squad that we believe in. Clearly there's not another Alexander Isak, that's obvious. In an ideal world, we want all our players available but the reality is we don't have Alex for this game… clearly whoever comes in, we're not going to ask them to be Alex. They just need to be themselves in the best way they can."
Focus shifts to Liverpool's busy schedule
Sweden sit top of League B Group 4 after beating Romania at home, and host Poland in Stockholm in a repeat of March's World Cup play-off final, which Sweden won 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Viktor Gyokeres.
Isak's priority now is being fit for Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on October 11. Three days later, the Reds travel to Austria to face LASK in the Champions League, part of a run of nine games in 27 days.
