Luis Suarez & Lucas could miss start of Liverpool’s season, coach Steve Clarke reveals

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Liverpool coach Steve Clarke has admitted that first-team duo Luis Suarez and Lucas could both miss the start of the Premier League season due to their Copa America commitments.

The pair are playing in the tournament for their countries and both are expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

Lucas’s Brazil reached the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup, while Suarez’s Uruguay went one step further partly thanks to the forward’s controversial handball against Ghana which prevented a last-minute goal that would have sent the South Americans home.

The start of last season’s Premier League was affected by players having an extended holiday following World Cup exploits and Clarke believes that Liverpool will be faced with a similar situation this time around.

“We wish them all the best for their countries and we’ll look after them,” he told the club’s official website.

“It’ll be up to us to make sure we put them in at the right time, but the most important thing is they get adequate recovery time.

“Obviously we’d like all the players to come in on the first day of training to do a full pre-season and be ready for the start with us, but it’s not the case.

“Now in football you just have to accept that different countries and different continents have their own tournaments and their own times.

“It’s up to the boys to go there and do their best for their countries.

“When they come back we’ll assess the situation, assess them fitness-wise, physically and mentally, then we’ll decide how we fit them into our training schedule.

“If they are ready to start the season, fine.

“But if they need a little bit longer to recover, that’s why you have a big squad. It will give other people a chance.”