Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola already has another injury to deal with after the team failed to come through this summer's first pre-season friendly against Sunderland unscathed
Andoni Iraola stands with his arms crossed on the sideline during a Liverpool pre-season friendly
Andoni Iraola will be without the injured Joe Gomez for around a month(Image: ISI Photos via Getty Images)
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Andoni Iraola has confirmed that Joe Gomez sustained a muscle injury during Liverpool's first pre-season friendly against Sunderland. The Reds' head coach believes "it will be impossible" to have him available for the start of the Premier League season.
Gomez, 29, lasted just eight minutes of the match in Nashville before having to be substituted. Ifeanyi Ndukwe replaced Liverpool's longest-serving player, who handed the captain's armband over to Kostas Tsimikas, who has returned from a loan at Roma this summer.
Iraola said during a press conference in Chicago: "Joe has a muscle injury. It was quite clear since he complained straightaway, so he will be out for some weeks.
"It’s difficult to say (in terms of a timescale) – normally one month. If it goes very well then a little bit less. If it goes bad then a bit more. It’s not massive. But I think it will be impossible to have him for the start of the season because we are not so far from that but it shouldn’t be a lot more."