Liverpool have seen two of their loanee goalkeepers succumb to injury, but there was good news as James McConnell returned from his minor issue.
McConnell missed two Ajax fixtures but he made his return off the bench on Saturday.
The midfielder played the final 13 minutes in a 3-3 draw against Sparta Rotterdam, which saw Heitinga’s side come back from 2-1 down, having initially taken the lead in the fixture.
McConnell managed 28 touches in his cameo as teammate Viteszlav Jaros played the full 90 and conceded the second-most number of goals during his time at Ajax so far.
Although the 24-year-old made two saves and saw out the match, the Czech national team announced on Monday that the goalkeeper had withdrawn due to “suffering from health problems.”
There was no word on the severity or the exact issue, but he will have a fortnight to recover before Ajax return against AZ Alkmaar.
He became the latest goalkeeper with an injury issue following on from Alisson and 22-year-old Harvey Davies, who missed Crawley Town’s latest defeat due to a finger injury.
Davies picked up the issue in a defeat to Barrow and saw out the whole match before being ruled out for the next fixture against Cambridge with what manager Scott Lindsey described as “some damage to the finger.”
It was the first time Davies missed a League Two fixture this season after 10 consecutive starts.
Kostas Tsimikas, meanwhile, made his first Serie A start for Roma in their 2-1 comeback win at Fiorentina, a result that has them level on points with leaders Napoli after six games.
Operating as a left wing-back, Tsimikas made the second-most recoveries of any Roma player (six) and won 62.5 percent of his duels (5/8), as per FotMob.
Elsewhere, Lewis Koumas and James Balagizi both came off the bench for Birmingham City and Forest Green Rovers, respectively, while Luca Stephenson continues to be a regular starter for Dundee United.
And for those keeping an eye on Harvey Elliott at Aston Villa, he was unused in their win over Burnley and still needs five appearances to trigger his permanent transfer.
Liverpool loanee roundup
- Vitezslav Jaros (Ajax) – 90 mins vs. Sparta Rotterdam
- Luca Stephenson (Dundee United) 90 mins vs. Livingston FC
- Kostas Tsimikas (Roma) – 68 mins vs. Fiorentina
- Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City) – 19 mins vs. Wrexham
- James Balagizi (Forest Green Rovers) 14 mins vs. Rochdale
- James McConnell (Ajax) – 13 mins vs. Sparta Rotterdam
Injured: Owen Beck, Harvey Davies, Isaac Mabaya
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