Liverpool prospect Ben Woodburn, on loan at Oxford United, has been ruled out of action for up to three months as reported by the Banbury Cake.
Woodburn is the Reds’ youngest ever goalscorer, a feat he achieved in a League Cup game with Leeds United, but his career has since floundered. He struggled for game time at Sheffield United last season and returned to Anfield six months early.
That prompted a move to Karl Robinson’s Oxford in the summer where he’s settling into a pattern of play. After missing some key chances in their opening fixtures, he became a big part of the excellent form that saw them hammer Lincoln City 6-0 and West Ham 4-0.
News that he’s going to be missing for some time will come as a big blow to the club.
“Woody’s seeing a specialist tomorrow and the worst-case scenario would be three months, but it could be a lot less than that<” confirmed Robinson after the 2-2 draw with Accrington this weekend.
“I think it’s the fifth metatarsal that he’s fractured. He was the catalyst to a lot of our good play this season. If you look over recent weeks we didn’t have him at Fleetwood and we looked way below par.”
Woodburn isn’t the only injury worry for the U’s. Anthony Forde sustained a groin injury during the match at the weekend and is due for a scan this afternoon.
Our View
Ben Woodburn will be a big loss for Oxford. They’ve turned their form around in recent weeks and he has been a key part of that. he has energy and drive in the middle of the park, but can drift out wide too if needed.
He’s been teeing up goals as well as dropping deeper to help his teammates out and seems to be maturing as a player.
If it’s a three-month absence that’s bad news for Oxford and for Liverpool, who will hope to see him develop over the course of the season.
