Matt Beard confirms Shanice van de Sanden injury timescale

Matt Beard has confirmed that Shanice van de Sanden is expected to be out for up to two months due to the injury she sustained during the warm up ahead of Liverpool's postponed WSL clash with Chelsea.

Liverpool's scheduled fixture against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow was postponed after six minutes last Sunday due to the unplayable pitch conditions.

The pitch had been deemed unplayable after a 9:30am pitch inspection, and players raised concerned about the state of the surface during the warm up before the game was given the go ahead regardless.

Van de Sanden started against Chelsea but was omitted from the Liverpool squad for their Continental Cup clash with West Ham on Wednesday, with Beard explaining this was because she had 'felt a twinge' in her knee after slipping during the warm up at Kingsmeadow.

The Dutch forward was missing again for the Reds' FA Cup defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, and the Liverpool boss outlined the extent of the injury, plus the club's plans to deal with her absence.

"We've lost Shanice van de Sanden for anywhere up to two months, which is a massive blow," Beard said. "We are looking for another attacking player.

"We've been looking throughout the whole window, but it's not easy. If you look at the money Beth England went for and Iwabuchi's gone - both players have gone to Tottenham, which is a massive, massive investment.

"It's a tough position to fill, especially in January, so we're hopeful we can get one in, but if we can’t then we will work with what we’ve got."

Beard confirmed that any new addition would be a domestic signing.

Van de Sanden re-joined Liverpool from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2022, but saw her second debut at the club delayed until 30 October due to injury.

Liverpool have also spent the majority of the campaign without last term's top scorer Leanne Kiernan, who remains sidelined after suffering an ankle injury against Chelsea on the opening day of the season.