Liverpool legend, Ian Rush, has struck out at the decision to keep Sadio Mane on the pitch after his head injury while in action for Senegal at the ongoing 2021 AFCON tournament in Cameroon.

Mane included for Senegal in their 2-0 win over Cape Verde in the 2021 AFCON round of 16 tie on Tuesday to send out the Teranga Lions through to the quarter-finals, where they will face Equatorial Guinea in the last-8 this weekend.

The 29-year-old suffered a clash of heads with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha while competing for a high ball during Senegal’s AFCON success against heaven Sharks.

Vozinha was later sent for the occurrence after getting treatment himself.

Despite the impact of the head clash, Mane was controversially enabled to continue and the Liverpool star gave Senegal their very first objective against Cape Verde 6 minutes later on.

Shortly after that, Mane went down once again, holding his head, following a prolonged VAR check to confirm his goal.

Mane was then replaced in the 70th minute of the encounter after being helped by his teammates and ushered off the pitch by the Senegalese medical group.

But Rush stated it was disappointing to see Mane’s health threatened.

“It was disappointing to see Sadio Mane’s health jeopardized in Senegal’s 2-0 win over Cape Verde in the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] today,” Rush was quoted by Liverpool Echo as stating.

“The Liverpool striker appeared to suffer a concussion after colliding with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha but was enabled to play on up until it ended up being clear he could not.

“In this day and age, you’ve to stop anyone from continuing when there is a severe head injury and take them off the field even if there is the tiniest doubt about their wellbeing.”