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Babel faces race against time

02 Jun 2008 - 12:02:53

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Netherlands international Ryan Babel may miss the start of Liverpool's pre-season work after tearing ankle ligaments at the weekend.

Dutch coach Marco van Basten believes that Babel will be on the sidelined for up to seven weeks after suffering the injury in training on Saturday.

"He needs five to seven weeks to recover," said van Basten.

"He was on the other end of the field when he turned around. He told me that he heard something snap and others heard it too.

"He went to a hospital and there it became clear he had torn a muscle."

Babel helped the Netherlands win the European Under-21s Championships a year ago, while he also featured in all of the senior squad's Euro 2008 qualifiers.

He moved to England straight after last summer's heroics and scored ten goals in 49 appearances for Liverpool following his transfer from Ajax.