Degen out for four weeks

Liverpool defender suffers another injury setback

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 14th November 2008

Degen out for four weeks

Degen: More time on the sidelines

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Liverpool defender Philipp Degen will be out of action for up to four weeks after sustaining a foot injury against Tottenham in the Carling Cup.

The 24-year-old suffered a metatarsal injury during the 4-2 defeat to Spurs and was replaced by 20-year-old Stephen Darby.

This is the latest in a long line of injuries for the defender since he joined the club in July 2008, restricting him to just two first-team appearances.

The Swiss international's latest setback has given manager Rafa Benitez a dilemma. With Alvaro Arbeloa suspended for the weekend trip to Bolton the Liverpool boss may have to play Jamie Carragher or Darby at full-back.

The Liverpool boss has remained upbeat and is confident that Degen can return to action quickly.

Problem

He said: "It's a pity for Philipp because he hasn't had much luck with injuries so far, but hopefully he can come back from this problem quickly.

"It's always a problem when you have two players for a position and one of them gets injured, and even more of a problem when the other player is suspended for a game.

"But we have options within the squad and we'll have to decide what we want to do for the game at Bolton."

The only other absentee for the Reds trip to the Reebok is defender Martin Skrtel and Benitez feels the fact that he only has two injuries to deal with justifies the fact that he made 10 changes for the Carling Cup match.

He added: "A lot of players were rested for the game at Tottenham because they had been playing a lot of football, but they will be back this weekend.

"They have looked sharp in training and will benefit from having a week free of competitive football."