27-year-old to wear mask for Liverpool clash against Southampton after suspected fracture

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Published on:

14 Nov 2016, 10:09 am

By Alex Stevens

Dusan Tadic has revealed he will wear a mask to be fit for Southampton’s clash with Premier League leaders Liverpool on Saturday.

The Serbia winger, 27, believes he needs some extra protection after Wales left-back Neil Taylor accidentally kicked him in the face at weekend.

Tadic was covered in blood after the incident in the 35th minute if the 1-1 draw in the World Cup qualifier in Cardiff, in which Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a late equaliser for the visitors.

The Southampton player has a suspected broken nose but is keen to face the Merseysiders at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday, if he is given the green light by medical experts.

“I think I have broken my nose," Tadic said, as quoted by the Sun. "We will see. If I can play, I will play with a mask. Serbian people are not so soft.

“At first I thought I could not see so many things but I couldn’t leave my team-mates alone on the pitch. I wanted to play and this is important.”

Tadic played on and completed the full 90 minutes against Wales with cotton wool stuffed up his nose to stem the blood.

He added: “I couldn’t breathe or do anything. I could see a little bit but not so good. I lost a lot of blood.

“I saw Taylor after the game and he asked me how I was. I said it’s okay.

“It does not matter because when you play a game you want to fight for your country and give your best.”

Liverpool will travel to St Mary's Stadium aiming to maintain their position at the Premier League summit after taking 26 points from their opening 11 games in the competition.

In other Liverpool news, these are the club's top three earners, with the main man taking home £150,000-a-week.

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