The head of Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel is no stranger to staples

It was not the first time – and probably will not be the last – that Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel needed a stapler to continue in a match.

The hard-nosed defender was caught by the boot of Olivier Giroud during their 2-2 draw against Arsenal and had to be bandaged up before returning to the fray and heading a stoppage time equaliser.

Skrtel took to Twitter on Monday morning to show off the wound, that appears to be directly in the back of his head. His aerodynamic hairstyle probably helped the medical staff, which inserted what looks like eight staples into his cranium to close up the gash.

In his Twitter collage, Skrtel combined a photo of the stapled head, the collision with Giroud and another of his celebration after the equaliser. He wrote: “Disappointing with the result but happy to scored that late goal and helped the team to get at least the point!”

Giroud lashed through the legs of Liverpool keeper Brad Jones to give Arsenal the lead in the second half before Skrtel’s bullet header deep into stoppage time rescued a point for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Skrtel’s head is no stranger to staples. In January, he showed his hard-man side during Liverpool’s FA Cup tie with Bournemouth, where he once again, needed staples to close a head wound on the side of the pitch.

The defender was forced to grit his teeth to avoid coming off following a clash of heads with Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman.

That coming-together in the second half left both players on the ground, but Skrtel definitely looked to have come off worse, with blood pouring from a cut. A few minutes later, he was back on the field, complete with a bulky head bandage, having been stapled back together on the sidelines.

Staples in the head during a match achieves pure tough-guy status. Staples in the head and then scoring – with your head – is nothing short of epic.

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