Dejan Lovren is aiming for a return to full fitness over the next couple weeks after he made his first start of the season against Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
When the Croatian made his return to pre-season training after making it all the way to the World Cup final with his country, Lovren admitted that he infuriated Melwood staff by hiding an injury while he was in Russia.
He said: “I cannot train at all because of stomach muscle issues. I am suffering a lot of pain and will see a specialist doctor in the Netherlands. Of course, they (Liverpool) are not happy. I haven’t trained since I returned from holiday. I can’t. I’ll reassess things after seeing the doctor in [the] Netherlands.
“I have to deal with that for now and believe it will be okay. I hoped it would pass during my holiday, but it didn’t. As I went for a swim, it hurt. I couldn’t even rest normally.”
Liverpool’s anger with Lovren seems to have subsided and the defender is now targeting a return to full fitness after making his first appearance of the season against Chelsea in the League Cup.
Lovren said: “After this injury that I had it’s good to be back with the team and to have a couple of minutes or all the minutes on the pitch,” the No.6 told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I’m quite happy, so hopefully I can be much, much fitter in the next couple of games. I carried it [the injury] for a long time, to be honest, and hopefully it’s everything behind me so I can be 100 per cent again.”
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
