Liverpool boss Arne Slot has confirmed that Alexander Isak will be out for a “couple of months” after the Sweden international suffered a broken leg during the Reds’ victory over Tottenham on Saturday. The Sweden striker has undergone surgery after sustaining a fracture in his left leg.

Isak came off the bench at half-time against Spurs and fired his side into the lead 11 minutes later as he swept home a cool finish. But he suffered an injury in the process after being challenged by Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven as he got his shot away. And he hobbled off the pitch with the aid of two members of Liverpool’s medical team, with Jeremie Frimpong coming on to replace him.

Slot was asked about Isak as he held his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League showdown with Wolves on Saturday.

And the Dutchman explained: “It’s going to be a long injury, a couple of months. That’s a big, big, big disappointment for him and also for us.”

He later added: “I’m confident he can [play a part in the back end of the season]. It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him.

“You join a new club – he was very excited – and you want to show immediately your qualities, but that was simply impossible.

“If you haven’t trained for two or three months at serious level, in this league you have to be on top of your game to impact a game of football.

“We knew it would take months. We knew it could take him time, that’s why he’s so unlucky he’s now injured as we all saw with his goals against West Ham and Tottenham he got closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”

Isak’s absence means Slot will need to rely heavily on Hugo Ekitike over the coming weeks, with the Frenchman netting his 11th goal of the season at Spurs after moving to Anfield in the summer.

And turning his attention to Ekitike, Slot explained: “He still needs to get stronger but he’s already become stronger. He can score a goal, he has great footwork, dribbling skills – he has so much in his locker.

“He’s adjusted to the Premier League now, the biggest thing is how he can become physically outstanding – that’s what he is working on really hard.

“Last two, three, four minutes he was very, very, very tired at Tottenham. I see this often. But there’s hardly any rest for these players, I have to give them a lot of compliments. Every time they fight, fight, fight from first second to the last.”