Liverpool midfielder Francisco Duran has suffered a new injury setback.
Duran has been ruled out of action for six months with a cruciate ligament injury.
The former Malaga man has had two separate spells on the sidelines with damage to his right knee, and this time he has injured his left knee.
"We've had some really bad news with Francisco damaging his cruciate, this time on his left knee," reserve team boss Gary Ablett told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"It was something really innocuous in training and as soon as he went down we saw the pain in his face and we feared the worst.
"He has had an operation and will be out for six months minimum unfortunately. Mentally, the boy is as strong a kid as you will ever meet in terms of what he's been through, and we are all doing our best to keep the lad going.
"Fran is probably as technically a gifted a player as we have in the reserve team squad and it's just unfortunate he's had these injuries."
