Pesky international breaks. Premier League managers send off their players with a hug, kiss and a reminder not to go breaking any legs or pulling a hamstring. And what happens? They return with a slight limp or with a pair of designer crutches and are potentially ruled out for the next fortnight.

Liverpool supporters cannot be happy to discover that Fernando Torres is injured again. The Spaniard only lasted 16 minutes of his team’s match against Belgium, before suffering a thigh injury which could rule him out of the matches against Wigan and Chelsea, not to mention Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. The BBC report that both he and Ryan Babel are walking wounded at the moment, after playing for their respective countries…

While details concerning Babel’s injury remained unclear, Spain team doctor Oscar Celada told Spanish television that any sort of muscle tear would leave Torres on the sidelines for a minimum of 10 days.

Celada added: “He has intense pain in the back part of the thigh. It is difficult to diagnose now exactly the extent [of the injury], if it is a question of a strain or a small tear. If it is a strain then he could be out for about a week.”

This is a blow for Liverpool fans. Even if their number nine is out for a week to ten days, he will then take time to get back to full fitness. After braces against Everton and Manchester City, the hotshot was threatening to hit a very rich vein of form, while the news that Babel is also crocked means that Rafael Benitez is now looking short of attacking options for the next couple of games.

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