Dominik Szoboszlai’s injury was the biggest dampener on a day when Liverpool picked up an important and unexpected three points away at Brentford.

The Reds had plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s win, but the sight of their No. 8 being helped off by the medical team could have long-lasting effects for Andoni Iraola.

James McConnell should get his Liverpool chance

Nyoni had been expected to start against Brentford with Szoboszlai set to be ruled out through injury and Ryan Gravenberch suspended. The 19-year-old ultimately played for an hour, and did well on what was his longest Premier League appearance.

Gravenberch will be back for Tuesday’s clash with Villarreal, but Szoboszlai will not, meaning the burden on the Dutchman, Nyoni and Alexis Mac Allister has just become much greater.

Iraola may have six matches to play with only three midfielders to navigate them, and this should mean that McConnell gets on the pitch for a considerable amount of time.

The 22-year-old did very well on his only appearance of the season so far – in the Carabao Cup against Tottenham – and will be desperate to kick on after seeing his progress stagnate in the last year or two.

Iraola has shown that he has no problem trusting Liverpool’s young players if he needs to, and it feels likely that McConnell will be the next to benefit from this.

Wataru Endo should not be forgotten

As well as McConnell, Iraola does of course have another senior, central midfield option to call upon in Wataru Endo.

Endo has not made a single appearance during Liverpool’s 10 matches so far this season, and though he is likely to be behind McConnell in Iraola’s thinking, he is another player who could come in.

The 33-year-old has barely played in the last year, but he showed during his last appearance for Liverpool – the 1-0 win over Sunderland in February – that he is still capable of delivering at this level.

That display came at right-back, but Endo should have no issues stepping into a two-man midfield either. The Japanese has the profile that Iraola has been missing up to this point, and it would be nice to see him come back into the fold after so long away.

McConnell and Endo may not be at the level of Szoboszlai, and the Hungarian will undoubtedly be a big miss in the coming weeks. But between them they now have a chance to reignite their careers at Anfield, and if they can use that as inspiration, they should be able to plug this sizeable gap.