A talented and excellent footballer has been ruled out for ‘up to 16 weeks’.

Steven Gerrard has sympathised with Ezri Konsa after the Aston Villa centre-back was ruled out for “up to 16 weeks” with a knee injury.

Konsa was taken off against Crystal Palace on Sunday and Gerrard revealed he initially thought the damage could be more significant.

“He’s had a scan and he’ll be missing for up to 16 weeks,” Gerrard said.

“When someone leaves the pitch and you see the challenge very close to you, you fear that it could be an ACL and a six to nine-month injury.

“Thankfully, it wasn’t. It’s an injury quite similar to [Marvelous] Nakamba’s and we managed to get him back after 14 weeks.”

With Villa playing their final game of the season on Sunday, Gerrard admits that, although a tough one to take, the timing is at least beneficial.

“If you are going to sustain an injury as a player, it’s not the worst time in the world – even though there’s never a good time – because he won’t miss much football.”

The Premier League returns on the weekend of 5-7 August, approximately 11 and a half weeks away.