Southgate on a ‘really difficult run’ for Lallana

England boss Gareth Southgate has expressed his sympathy for Adam Lallana after injury forced him to withdraw from the Three Lions’ squad.

Liverpool midfielder Lallana was hoping to get some valuable minutes under his belt for his country, but his hopes were dashed when he pulled up with a groin injury in the early part of Tuesday morning’s training session.

The 30-year-old has struggled for full fitness since sustaining an injury shortly before the 2017/18 season, denied a place in Southgate’s World Cup squad by a lack of sufficient gametime.

He will now return to Melwood, where he will undergo treatment and be given a timescale on his recovery.

“It was quite close to the beginning of training so it is the worst thing as far as we are concerned because you never want to send players back injured,” Southgate told Sky Sports when asked about the injury.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Saturday, November 25, 2017: Liverpool’s Adam Lallana (bottom) challenges Chelsea’s Pedro during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield. (Pic by Lindsey Parnaby/Propaganda)

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“Adam has had such a difficult run personally. He is a player we think so much of and I know Jurgen does.”

Southgate feels Lallana has been the victim of some cruel luck, with the latest setback coming ‘out of the blue’.

“So at the moment he is having a really difficult run and you review what you might have been able to do differently but today was just really out of the blue,” he said.

Squad update: @officialAL20 will require further assessment on a groin strain, having withdrawn from today's training session.

Lallana won't feature against Spain or Switzerland and has returned to @LFC. pic.twitter.com/aF5gDP7pxX

— England (@England) September 4, 2018

“I am really disappointed for him because he has had such a tough year – missing so much football. Hopefully he will be back strong as quickly as possible.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com