Liverpool winger Jordon Ibe set for March injury layoff confirms Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Jordon Ibe is set to miss the majority of March 2015 through injury.

Reports that began circulating early on Monday morning had strongly suggested that the winger, who has impressed with his performances at Anfield since returning from a loan spell with Championship promotion hopefuls Derby in January, would miss up to four weeks with a knee ligament problem sustained during last week's Europa League last 32 second-leg defeat to Besiktas in Istanbul.

Ibe missed Liverpool's entertaining 2-1 win over champions Manchester City at the weekend and Rodgers has now confirmed that he is not expected to be back in action until the end of the month.

"[Steven] Gerrard is coming along very well. He's working hard. Jordon Ibe will be out for a few weeks. He'll be back towards end of March," he told reporters who assembled for the club's latest pre-match press conference ahead of Wednesday's home encounter with struggling Burnley.

Such an injury is an obvious setback for Ibe, who has made seven appearances for Liverpool after proving his worth during the first half of the campaign with five goals in 24 appearances for Steve McClaren's side.

Rodgers is not currently particularly short of attacking options, however, with Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho all starting and Daniel Sturridge having to make do with a spot on the substitutes' bench during Sunday's crucial win over stuttering City.

Another player who proved his quality during that aforementioned victory was Joe Allen. The 24-year-old, Rodgers' second ever signing on Merseyside following his own move from Swansea during the summer of 2012, has struggled to hold down a regular place in Liverpool's midfield of late but silenced his critics with a composed display against the likes of Yaya Toure and Fernandinho.

"Joe Allen is a very under-rated player," Rodgers continued. "He was one of the first players I wanted to bring to Liverpool. Joe was incredible v City. He had so much courage to get on the ball. He allows other players to receive the ball. £15m for Joe Allen was great value for us."

While most Liverpool supporters would perhaps query the validity of that last statement, there is hope that the Welsh international will take great confidence from such a performance and start to provide a significant return on that investment.