Liverpool to assess Oxlade-Chamberlain injury following brief U23 return

Liverpool will assess the extent of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s hamstring injury on Saturday after the midfielder’s return to action was cut short.

The England international made his first appearance in 11 months on Friday, turning out for Neil Critchley’s under-23 side in a Premier League 2 fixture against Derby County.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was due to play the first 45 minutes at the Moor Farm training complex, but was replaced four minutes before half-time after feeling a tightness in his left hamstring.

The 25-year-old headed straight for the dressing rooms, stopping to pose for pictures and sign autographs for a handful of supporters, before being transported back to Merseyside.

He will now be examined closely by Liverpool’s medical team, with Critchley confirming afterwards that the £35 million man had felt something prior to his substitution.

“He obviously had a bit of an issue but hopefully it's nothing major,” Critchley said. “The bonus for him is that it's not his knee, so he's delighted there are no problems with that.

“He was enjoying himself, he was happy to be back playing. Hopefully when he wakes up in the morning, fingers crossed it's nothing and only a precaution.

“The idea was only ever to play him for 45 minutes at most anyway. He nearly got that, as well.

“Hopefully it's not as bad as it first looked. He was looking over (to the bench) and we weren't sure. It's maybe some kind of muscle problem and maybe one to assess tomorrow.

“What was good is that he was sensible. He came off quite quick. He has handled that situation quite well.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain has not featured for Liverpool since damaging knee ligaments in the Champions League semi-final against Roma last April, but started in a three-man midfield on Friday, alongside Connor Randall and Adam Lewis.

He showed some nice touches, including a couple of drilled long-range passes, before being replaced by Isaac Christie-Davies. Liverpool went on to win 3-1, with Curtis Jones scoring twice and Rafa Camacho once. Reds sporting director Michael Edwards, and Academy director Alex Inglethorpe were among those in attendance.

“I've never met him [Oxlade-Chamberlain] before and you can see he is a bubbly, positive person,” added Critchley. “Even when he was on the pitch you could see he was enjoying playing again. He brought a calmness and maturity to our play and our boys are delighted to play with someone like that.

“Sometimes we forget they just love playing football. It was exciting for Alex to put his boots and his shinpads and his kit back on today. He was like a kid again.

“It was great to see him out there playing.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has already ruled Oxlade-Chamberlain out of consideration for first-team duties until at least after the international break later this month. The Reds play Burnley at Anfield on Sunday, travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday and then visit Fulham.

Their next fixture after that is at home to Tottenham on March 31.