After such a promising start to the season for Harvey Elliott, it was galling for Liverpool supporters to see the teenager in such distress on Sunday.
The Reds tyro suffered a serious ankle injury in his team's 3-0 win against Leeds United at Elland Road after a tackle from Pascal Struijk, who was issued with a red card following the challenge.
Elliott was stretchered off the field in obvious discomfort and the desperate reactions of some of his team-mates, particularly Mohamed Salah, offered an indication into how bad the issue was.
While Elliott will not be in action for a while, on Tuesday there was a positive update issued on his condition by Liverpool, as they posted on their website that he had had successful surgery on his ankle.
"Harvey sustained a fracture dislocation of his left ankle during the game," said club doctor Jim Moxon.
"We were able to reduce the dislocation immediately on the pitch and Harvey had surgery today to repair the fracture and ligaments damaged in the incident. The operation was a success so his comeback starts now.
"We won’t put pressure on him by setting a specific timeframe beyond being able to say with confidence we expect him to feature again later in the season following our rehab programme."
Needless to say, Liverpool supporters were pleased that Elliott could yet play again this season.
@LFC8Fan: "Fantastic news. There's no way Klopp would rush him back, positives signs if there's a chance to play before the end of the season."
@Simmo83: "Can’t wait for his comeback when he comes off the bench and bags a late winner against the bluenoses at the Kop end #scenes"
@AbdulMIsmail: "Gutted he'll miss the Champions League. But, he's only 18 and will defo be a major star in the team for years to come."
@Hetpet1212: "Can't wait to have him back but it's a shame with a slow injury/fitness build up we probably won't see him in the biggest of games. Wish him the speediest of recoveries!"
@shillcock_paul: "Still gutted though - just about my favourite part of our season so far was watching Elliott develop game by game, already looking like an experienced PL player"
@zazu6279: "I wouldn’t bring him back until next season unless we are in an another injury crisis."
Elliott had been a huge positive for Liverpool early in the campaign, slotting into a midfield berth and offering a different attacking dimension to Jurgen Klopp's side.
Although Liverpool were not as active as some of their title rivals in the transfer market, the emergence of Elliott had given the team upward momentum at the start of the campaign and key depth in a number of areas.
After a strong start to the season, Reds fans will be hopeful Elliott can make his return before the end of the campaign and he can contribute to a team still in contention for silverware.
