Dejan Lovren has been taking a handful of pills every day to play through the pain barrier for Liverpool, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The regional newspaper claim that the centre-back “is apparently popping five pills a game in order to play through a back problem”.
The Echo shared the information about under-fire Lovren as it emerged that he has been ruled out of Croatia’s World Cup qualifier against Finland on Friday, but could make it back for the Ukraine game on Monday.
Croatia boss Ante Cacic explained that Lovren is currently not training and only playing through what is a debilitating problem with the aid of “injections and pills”.
OPINION
The extent of the pain Lovren is suffering offers some mitigation for his ropey recent form. The defender has been the subject of huge criticism from pundits and Liverpool fans for performances that have intensified calls for the club to sign Virgil van Dijk. Jurgen Klopp has continued to show faith in Lovren as Joel Matip’s first choice central defensive partner, but his selection is only a back-handed compliment given that the other main senior alternative is Ragnar Klavan. Lovren has never really lived up to his billing since joining from Southampton in the summer of 2014. His propensity for errors, and wonky distribution, drives supporters up the wall.