Liverpool full-back Calvin Ramsay is ruled out for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery to mend a troublesome knee injury.
The 19-year-old arrived at Anfield from Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen last summer for around £4m, penning a contract until June 2027.
However, Ramsay has struggled with a long-term knee injury throughout this season and has been reduced to just seven appearances across all competitions, five of those have been with the club's Under-21s squad.
The Scotsman made his senior debut for Liverpool as a late substitute in the 2-0 home victory over Napoli in the Champions League group stage on November 1.
Eight days later, Ramsay started his first game for the Reds against Derby Country in the EFL Cup third round, playing the full 90 minutes at right-back before watching on from the halfway line as Jurgen Klopp's side edged through 3-2 on penalties.
Ramsay has not made a senior appearance since, and on Thursday provided an injury update on his Instagram account, confirming that he has undergone surgery.
The teenager posted an image of himself lying on a hospital bed following his operation and a message accompanying the image read: "Surgery went well time to rest, recover and come back stronger!"
A number of Liverpool teammates including fellow Scotsman Andrew Robertson and captain Jordan Henderson have replied to Ramsay's post with brief messages of support.
Ramsay is now expected to play no further part for Liverpool in the 2022-23 campaign, while he will also miss out on representing Scotland during the Euro 2024 qualifiers at the end of next month.
Elsewhere on the injury front at Anfield, Luis Diaz has been pictured training away from the first team as he continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury, and the winger is still at least a few weeks away from returning to action.
Centre-back Ibrahima Konate and midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who were not spotted at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday, are expected to remain sidelined with respective hamstring and hip injuries.
However, the Reds have been handed a boost regarding the fitness of Juventus loanee Arthur, who took part in team training on Thursday and could be in contention to make the matchday squad on Saturday.
Liverpool will be seeking to build on their 2-0 Merseyside derby win over Everton on Monday when they travel to St James' Park for a challenging Premier League contest against Newcastle United.
Klopp's side currently sit ninth in the table and nine points behind the Magpies in fourth, who have played a game more, but that gap to the Champions League positions would be cut to six points with a win on Saturday. body check tags ::