Cruciate damage for Skrtel

Slovakian defender facing lengthy spell on the sidelines

By Vasek Kadlec   Last updated: 6th October 2008

Cruciate damage for Skrtel

Skrtel: Worst pain ever

A scan this morning showed damage to the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Liverpool on Skrtel
Quotes of the week

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Liverpool have confirmed defender Martin Skrtel damaged his posterior cruciate ligament against Manchester City.

The amount of time the Slovakia international is facing on the treatment table remains unknown, although it is unlikely he will be available to manager Rafa Benitez anytime soon.

The Reds centre-back is now due to visit a knee specialist where the exact timeframe required for his recovery will be discovered.

"Martin underwent a scan this morning (Monday) which showed damage to the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee," said club spokesman Ian Cotton told the club's official website.

Timescales

"He will see a specialist tomorrow to assess the extent of the injury and will then have an accurate idea of the timescales involved before he is back playing again."

Earlier on Monday, Skrtel revealed his injury left him in the worst pain he has ever experienced.

The Slovakia international was stretched off late on at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday after falling awkwardly while shielding the ball from Ched Evans.

Skrtel's agony was obvious as he was given oxygen on the pitch and he has now informed Slovakia's team doctor that he went through a new level of pain after twisting his knee.

New level

"I have already spoken with Martin and he told me he had never experienced such pain before," Peter Malinovsky told SITA.

"Martin will have an MRI scan on Monday and I don't really want to think about how long he might be on the sidelines.

"It might only be a week, but it could be a lot longer and I don't want to believe what the consequences of this injury could really be."