Andy Robertson is expected to make his return from a long-term shoulder injury in the New Year, with the Liverpool left-back making “daily progress” in recovery.
Robertson has been sidelined since mid-October after dislocating his shoulder in Scotland’s 2-0 loss to Spain, with his injury requiring surgery.
The 29-year-old has so far missed 12 games as he undergoes his rehabilitation, with Kostas Tsimikas stepping up in his absence along with Joe Gomez and Luke Chambers.
While he is due to miss the remainder of the year and therefore at least five more fixtures, Robertson is on course to make his comeback in January.
The Mail‘s Lewis Steele reports that the Scotland captain is “on schedule” to return next month, having already resumed running outdoors at the AXA Training Centre.
Robertson is said to be making “daily progress,” with his recovery work “split between treatment and strength work on the injured shoulder.”
Unsurprisingly, he is “not yet involved in contact training,” with any resumption of full training dependent on the strength of his repaired shoulder.
While a vague date of “next month” is reported, it may be safe to assume that Robertson will not be risked until after the winter break.
Liverpool play five more times in December and then have clashes with Newcastle in the Premier League on New Year’s Day and Arsenal in the FA Cup on January 7.
As it stands, there would then be two weeks before the trip to Bournemouth on January 21, which would allow Robertson longer to get up to speed.
That could be added to by progress in the Carabao Cup, though, with a potential semi-final set for the week commencing January 8.
Either way, unless there is a setback for Tsimikas or even Gomez or Chambers, Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to rely upon Robertson to start until he is fully fit.
Klopp already received a major injury boost last week when Alisson returned to full training and then made two crucial stops to help ensure Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Alexis Mac Allister missed that clash with a knee problem but is not likely to be out for long, while Diogo Jota is stepping up his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Joel Matip will miss the remainder of the season after surgery on his ACL, and caution is being taken with both Thiago (hip) and Stefan Bajcetic (calf).
