Carragher broken leg blow for ’Pool
Liverpool confirmed last night that an X-ray had shown that the 25-year-old England international had broken his right leg and would not return to action until next year.
The 3-1 victory at Ewood came at a heavy price for Liverpool, who will also be without Czech striker Milan Baros until the New Year after he broke his ankle following an innocuous tackle by former Liverpool team-mate Markus Babbel.
Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton told the club's website: "Jamie Carragher left the stadium on crutches and was seen by our club doctor on Sunday. Unfortunately, an X-ray has revealed he has broken his leg and the awful news for everyone at the club is that Jamie will be out for up to six months. We also expect Milan Baros to be unavailable until the New Year. Milan had a two-hour operation on Saturday night which went very well.
"He has had a plate inserted in his ankle."
Elsewhere, Claudio Ranieri has told his team they must stop giving opponents a goal start after Chelsea came from behind to beat Tottenham 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Freddie Kanoute gave Spurs the lead before a goal from Frank Lampard and two from Adrian Mutu put The Blues in control. Kanoute led a Spurs fightback with his second strike, before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sealed the points for the home side.
"Once again we started after we conceded a goal and that is not good," said Chelsea boss Ranieri.
"Maybe the players put themselves under pressure by thinking they must win every game, but they need to be calm. It seems as if when we concede a goal the players only then clear everything from their minds and start to play, but they must enjoy it from the start.
"We are building, we are not a team yet. Some people think we are a strong team but at this moment in time we are not."
Ranieri also called for his players to keep their concentration when they are in the lead, having briefly let Spurs back into the game at 3-2.
He added: "When we were 3-1 ahead we lost our focus and concentration and gave them another goal we need to keep our concentration.
"I am not happy right now, but I will be when I look at the table in the morning and see that we picked up another three points."
Meanwhile, Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp criticised the refereeing decision which cost his newly-promoted side victory at Arsenal, calling it "embarrassing." Redknapp was shocked to see referee Alan Wiley point to the spot after Robert Pires had tumbled to the floor after making faint contact with Dejan Stefanovic's foot.
Pires apologised to Stefanovic after the game, although insisted that he did not dive, but Thierry Henry still converted the spot-kick to equalise former Spurs striker Teddy Sheringham's opener. Redknapp declared: "I'm not saying that Pires purposefully dived but it was never a penalty.
"I've watched it again now and Stefanovic had his foot firmly planted on the floor and never lifted it. Pires came in and kicked his foot before going over the top of him. It was a terrible decision.
"The referee did what he thought was right, but when you see it again, it was embarrassing. I've seen so many wrong penalty decisions this season which change games.
"Up until then, we were in control of the game. We deservedly went 1-0 up and it gave them a lift when we were looking very strong.
"Pires said to Stefanovic that it wasn't his fault as he didn't give the decision. I think Pires is a fantastic footballer, don't get me wrong, but it was a bad decision. I thought he was going to get a yellow card, to be honest with you. I couldn't believe it when the referee gave a penalty."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, whose side's lead at the top was cut to one point, admitted that the penalty decision was far from clear-cut.
"I saw it on television again after the game. It's very difficult to say whether he touched him or not," he said.
"It didn't look an obvious one to me, but it wasn't obvious either way."
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