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JOE ALLEN will miss the rest of the season after Liverpool brought forward his shoulder operation.

The 23-year-old midfielder is expected to undergo surgery later this week and faces three months on the sidelines.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers was hoping Allen could keep playing until early April but with the injury worsening the decision has been made for him to go under the knife to correct the problem as soon as possible.

Allen was clearly hampered by the injury during Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Southampton and was substituted at half-time.

The £15million signing was subsequently withdrawn from the Wales squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia.

As long as everything goes to plan, Allen should be fully fit for the start of pre-season training in July.