Who is Liverpool’s Andy Lonergan, who has the goalkeeper previously played for and why are Alisson and Adrian injured?

WEDNESDAY’s UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea was a positive night for Liverpool, and not just because another trophy was added to the Champions Wall at Melwood.

Reds fans took encouragement from the fact that deputy goalkeeper Adrian did well in the 2-2 draw – despite giving away a penalty in extra-time, he became a Kop hero when he saved Tammy Abraham’s spot-kick to win the shootout for his side.

Hopes that the eight-week injury to first-choice stopper Alisson might not be so detrimental began to emerge, but Jurgen Klopp has suffered another setback as the Spaniard is set to miss the next game.

This means that the squad’s reserve option, Andy Lonergan, will likely step into the side for the visit to Southampton at the weekend.

If Lonergan does play on Saturday, he will become the oldest Englishman to make his Premier League debut in the 21st century – but who is he?

What has Lonergan’s career looked like?

The 35-year old began his career at Preston North End, the club with which he probably has the most affinity, after graduating from their youth ranks.

Preston fended off the likes of Manchester United and Everton to snap up a young Lonergan, who went on to play 207 games for the club – he even scored a goal against Leicester in 2006.

Since then, he has had spells with Leeds United, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and, most recently, six months at Rochdale in which he made just seven appearances.

As such, it was something of a surprise when Lonergan was offered a short-term contract by Liverpool having accompanied the club on their pre-season tour of America.

The goalkeeper is eligible to play for both England and the Republic of Ireland internationally, and earned caps for both at youth level.

Why are Alisson and Adrian injured?

Alisson conceded just 22 Premier League goals last season, an instrumental part of the defence which time after time kept Liverpool alive in their bid to push eventual champions Manchester City right to the wire.

However, on the first day of this campaign, disaster struck for the Brazilian as he limped off from the 4-1 victory over Norwich with an ankle injury.

Thankfully, Adrian – who was released by West Ham United at the end of 2018/19 – was on hand to step into the starting eleven for the Super Cup clash.

The 32-year old was lauded for his penalty save to win the trophy for Liverpool, but he clearly celebrated too enthusiastically after the match.

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp told the press that, “A supporter slipped and kicked his ankle. Yesterday it was swollen and today I spoke to him and he said it’s much better, but we have to see.”

And so the door is opened for Lonergan to pull on that famous Liverpool shirt and guard the same goal as the likes of Jerzy Dudek, Bruce Grobbelaar, and Ray Clemence.