Duo encourage Ings and Gomez on road to recovery
Neither Joe Gomez nor Danny Ings will walk down the road to recovery alone.
Ings and Gomez both tore cruciate ligaments last week. Ings will undergo surgery Tuesday, according to The Telegraph’s Chris Bascombe and the Liverpool Echo’s Neil Jones.
Surgeons will perform a corrective procedure on Gomez later this week. Most expect Gomez and Ings to miss the rest of the 2015-16 season, and James Milner and Lucas Leiva have offered Ings, 23, and Gomez, 18, public and private support, as they kick off their efforts to recover.
Milner said Monday he’s “devastated” for his teammates, who were impressing in the first months of their respective Anfield careers (and in Ings’ case, England’s senior national team).
“I am gutted for Danny,” Milner told LiverpoolFC.com. “He has come in and done really well. He was just chasing a ball in training.
“It is devastating after making his England debut but I said to him, ‘it could be a lot worse, it could have come before you made your England debut, but you did that and had come in and done really well for us.’"
Ings worked his way up from the lower leagues to the big time in four years, and his remarkable rise convinces Milner he’ll overcome this major setback.
“People know what he is about and hopefully Danny and Joe can get back as soon as possible.”
Lucas also suffered a torn ACL during his Liverpool career. His return to full fitness and sharpness from the 2011 knee injury lasted years and included several bumps.
Lucas said on Sunday that while Ings’ and Gomez’s injuries will affect Liverpool’s pursuit of success this season, the Reds have enough depth and quality to sustain the impact of their losses.
“It’s a real blow for us because Joe is a young player who has started really well,” Lucas told Liverpoolfc.com. “Danny was probably in the best form of his life, he just made his debut for England, but these things happen.
“I’ve been through these (serious injuries) and I’ve told them they will get back strong.
“They are very young and at the moment we need to cope with the players we have and wait for the other players to come back from injury which will give the manager options.”
Gomez and Ings are new to Liverpool, but theirs’ and their teammates’ reactions to the twin blows suggest they didn’t require much time to fit in with the club, and they won’t want for support during the recovery periods.
Source: NESN
This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.