Pep Lijnders: Harvey Elliott's response to setback has been outstanding
Pepijn Lijnders has detailed how Harvey Elliott has responded ‘outstandingly’ in dealing with the setback of facing time on the sidelines following ankle surgery.
The midfielder underwent a successful operation last week after suffering a fracture dislocation of the left joint during Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Leeds United on September 12.
No timescale has been placed upon a return to action for Elliott, though he is expected to feature again this season after completing his rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical team.
“Harvey is Harvey, a young boy and he deals with it outstandingly, I have to say,” Lijnders told reporters at a pre-Norwich City press conference on Monday.
“If you see our squad of players, we have so many players who had not similar injuries, but similar situations where they had a long-term injury. You see that our group is a proper family, you see how they reacted when it happened - Naby was with tears in his eyes next to the pitch, Curtis was emotional.
“You see how much it means to all of us, not just from a football point of view, but from a young player point of view [who was] in such a good moment and we lost one of our better midfielders.
“He deals with it really well and we have a really strong structure in place with our medical department, with all the guys around, we try to support him as much as we can in these early stages.
“With a long-term injury, each day is a victory - the small things, step by step, and he’s focusing on this.”