Reds have Lovren worry

Cape Town - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will be keeping his fingers crossed that the abdominal injury suffered by Dejan Lovren is not serious.

The 25-year-old centre-back sustained the injury during a training session with Croatia on Wednesday ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Azerbaijan.

Lovren was subsequently sent for a scan which has revealed a tear in his abdominal muscle, ruling him out of contention for Vatreni.

He is due to return to Anfield before the weekend and will be assessed by the Reds medical staff to determine the severity of his injury.

The Croatian FA released a statement on their official website, which read: "During training on Wednesday Lovren felt pain in the abdominal wall.

"Igor Boric (a specialist) at St Catherine (Hospital) showed there was a tear and he will not be ready for performances in Sofia and Osijek."

Rodgers is down to the bare bones in defence, with Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure currently the only two fit central defenders at his disposal.