Virgil van Dijk can take inspiration after injury from Liverpool player who almost lost a leg

There's no such thing as a good injury. Some, though, are most certainly worse than others.

Just ask Virgil van Dijk, the Liverpool defender facing a lengthy rehabilitation having damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee earlier this month.

And today marks the anniversary of one of the most horrific a Reds player has suffered in the modern era.

Djibril Cisse had become the Reds' club record signing when Gerard Houllier left incoming manager Rafael Benitez the parting gift of the forward's £14.5million arrival from Auxerre in the summer of 2004.

The France international was still adjusting to his new surroundings when he stepped out for a 15th appearance for Liverpool at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.

The game ended 2-2 but the real drama came shortly before half-time when, while challenging Rovers defender Jay McEveley for possession, Cisse caught his foot in the turf and crumpled to the ground.

He attempted to play on before again dropping to the field. Liverpool's medical staff, watching from the dugout, knew something was badly wrong and the player was swiftly taken inside Ewood Park for an instant examination.

Cisse had broken the tibia and fibula in his left leg. And how crucial the initial response proved would only come to light as the player began his recovery.

"When I was taken from the field, what they did next was so important for my career, what they did in those first few moments was vital," Cisse later recalled. "My bones were overlapping and I had no circulation in my foot.

"They had to give me drugs to help with the pain and then they had to pull my bones back into place with their hands. If they had waited until I had got to the hospital I might have lost my leg, it was that serious."

Mark Waller, then club doctor at Liverpool, said: "Djibril had a shortened, slightly angulated lower leg with no pulses in his foot. There are a couple of reasons why that could have happened, he could either have severed the artery or the broken bone could have been pressing against the artery.

"When any player has what’s called a commimuted fracture of their tibia and fibula then it’s a potentially hazardous injury for them. I don’t want to be dramatic about it but a number of players haven’t been able to continue their football careers after this injury.”

Nobody expected Cisse to play again that season.

However, the prompt medical care, excellent rehab facilities and sheer bloody-mindedness meant the France international made his comeback less than six months later as a substitute in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Juventus, going on to play a series of cameos that season culminating, of course, with him netting in the European Cup final penalty shoot-out win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

Cisse rarely saw eye-to-eye with Benitez, but the following season scored 19 goals in 54 appearances including two in the UEFA Super Cup win over CSKA Moscow and a memorable strike in the FA Cup final defeat of West Ham United.

But another double leg fracture in May 2006 - albeit in his right leg this time - cost him a place in France's World Cup squad, with Liverpool already negotiating with Marseille over a departure that, after a loan spell, became permanent in 2007.

Despite the severity of Van Dijk's problem, Liverpool remain reluctant to rule their talismanic Dutchman out for the season.

And while the injuries are different, Cisse has demonstrated that it is possible to defy the odds when facing up to a potential career-changing setback.