Fresh Liverpool FC injury blow as Sotirios Kyrgiakos damages knee playing for Greece

Multimedia Background image for 'Liverpool FC boss Rafa Benitez on new Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos 'SOTIRIOS KYRGIAKOS is bracing himself for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after he suffered a serious injury on international duty.Kyrgiakos - who joined the Reds from AEK Athens in August - was forced off before half-time during his country's 2-1 win over Luxembourg last night.It has since been claimed in Greece that Kyrgiakos has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and the 30-year-old will spend at least four months on the sidelines.That, though, is likely to be a conservative estimate if the damage is as bad as feared, as cruciate problems invariably mean that a player will be out for a minimum of six months.Liverpool were today waiting for a further update but the early signs are that they will be without Kyrgiakos for the foreseeable future.It will come as blow to Rafa Benitez, who drafted in the uncompromising Kyrgiakos to fill the void left by Sami Hyppia's move to Bayer Leverkusen.He has only made one start for Liverpool in the Premier League so far - that came in the 3-2 win over Bolton on August 29 - and also played in the 1-0 Carling Cup win at Leeds.

Source: Liverpool_Echo