Ex-Liverpool man set for 'significant' period on sidelines after serious injury

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward is facing a significant spell on the sidelines after sustaining a serious injury during Wrexham's game against Millwall last weekend.

Ward, who joined Wrexham in the summer, was knocked unconscious during the 2-0 win for his side and received treatment on the field for several minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. The 32-year-old, who was on Liverpool's books for six years between 2012 and 2018, will undergo an operation on Friday ahead of a lengthy recovery period.

"It is really bad news for us with Danny and more importantly for himself," Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said. "It is a dislocated elbow, but when you do a dislocation, you have ligament damage which needs rectifying.

"He faces an operation on Friday, and he will obviously have a significant period of time out.

"I think the specialist has said we won't know until he has actually done the operation and put a timescale on that, but obviously it is a serious injury and our thoughts are with Danny.

"It is part and parcel of football picking up injuries, and he will come back at some point this season ready to play his part."

Ward had been named in the Wales squad for games against Kazakhstan and Canada before sustaining the injury, and Parkinson said he sympathized with his goalkeeper.

"Danny was all set to go away with Wales," said Parkinson. "I think the fact he had been playing (for Wrexham) has got him in a good place for getting back into the Welsh starting line-up.

"I don't know what Craig (Bellamy) was thinking, but it is so frustrating for us and for him.

"The goalkeeping department was a problem we didn't really need so late in the window."

Ward began his career at Wrexham, coming through the club's academy before being snapped up by Liverpool in 2012.

Despite being contracted to Liverpool for six years, he made just three appearances for the Reds, spending time on loan at Morecambe, Aberdeen, and Huddersfield during his time with the club.

Ward left Liverpool in 2018 to join Leicester for a fee of around £12.5 million ($17 million). That fee was somewhat surprising — even more so, in retrospect — considering Leicester had Kasper Schmeichel as its goalkeeper at the time.

Ward made just 52 appearances across his seven seasons at Leicester before signing for Wrexham as a free agent this summer.

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