Surgery blow for Reds midfielder Allen

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen has been ruled out of the remainder of the season as he will undergo surgery on a troublesome shoulder problem on Thursday.

The 23-year-old withdrew from the Wales squad on Sunday because of the long-standing issue with his left shoulder, and the club then decided to bring forward plans for an operation.

Allen has had the problem for some time, but it began to get worse about five months ago and has now reached the point where corrective intervention is required.

"Joe Allen is due to have a left shoulder operation tomorrow morning in Liverpool and will be ready to return to football at the beginning of next season," first team doctor Zaf Iqbal told liverpoolfc.com.

Allen followed manager Brendan Rodgers from Swansea in the summer in a £15million transfer and was a permanent fixture from the off.

He started Liverpool's first 17 Premier League matches of the campaign, but the return to fitness of Lucas Leiva presented Rodgers with more options in midfield.

Since the turn of the year his appearances have been less frequent and the player admitted his shoulder had started to become more of a problem, although he did not blame that on his drop in form.

"I've had an operation in the past and unfortunately I've had a recurrence of the injury and carried it for a little while," he told liverpoolfc.com last week.

"Recently, in particular, it has deteriorated and we have got to a stage where we have to do something about it.

"It's something I've been able to play with, though, so there are no excuses in that department."