Liverpool loan out young left-back Luke Chambers to Wigan Athletic after recalling Owen Beck… despite Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas both being injured!

Liverpool youngster Luke Chambers is set to join League One Wigan Athletic on loan until the end of the season, with Shaun Maloney’s side beating a number of Championship clubs to the signing of the left back.

Chambers, 19, excelled on loan at Kilmarnock last season and even turned down a call-up to England’s Under 20s to stay and help the Scottish club’s fight for survival. That earned him rave reviews from boss Derek McIness, who said he was a ‘diamond’ in an interview with Mail Sport.

The youngster has played several times for the first team this season, including two starts in the Europa League, and has often been an unused substitute. It was hoped he might get some more minutes with both Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas out injured.

But Liverpool decided instead to recall Owen Beck from a successful stint at Scottish club Dundee, where he earned good references. The Welsh left back, a great nephew of Ian Rush, is seen as slightly more ready for first-team football at Premier League level than Chambers.

In a chat with Mail Sport Chambers after his first start for the club in October, Kilmarnock boss McIness said: ‘I’ve worked with a lot of loan players and none have made a bigger impact than Luke. What a diamond of a boy he is, Liverpool are lucky to have him.

Owen Beck has been recalled from his loan at Dundee as he is seen as more ready for first-team football

‘The more important the game, the better he became and more maturity he showed. He handled all the pressure brilliantly. In the modern game now players have far too many distractions and influences – social media, agents, girlfriends – but Luke is a throwback.

‘He did everything 100 per cent right, worked his socks off. But moreover he is a great lad, our boys loved him and he’s still in the…