Boss hails returning Lovren and Henderson
Jürgen Klopp has talked up the importance of Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson to Liverpool's hopes after the pair's successful return to the team following injury lay-offs.
Henderson has made just three Barclays Premier League starts under the German, with a heel issue and a broken metatarsal having kept him sidelined between August and December.
Lovren, meanwhile, sustained a knee injury during the 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion earlier this month, but made a sooner-than-expected comeback on Boxing Day against Leicester City due to Martin Skrtel's absence.
Both players were strong contenders for the man of the match accolade as the league leaders were defeated 1-0 at Anfield thanks to Christian Benteke's second-half strike.
And on Lovren, who has overcome a patchy start to his Reds career to put on some imperious recent showings, Klopp said: "I only heard that supporters or whoever were not too happy with the performance of Dejan when he came here.
"I can't say anything about this since I'm here. He gets better and better, that's the truth.
"He can show how strong he is and, for me, I'm not surprised about this because I knew about his quality.
"I was a little bit surprised about what everybody told me about him so I'm happy for him that he can show this now."
The manager also explained how the entire team can make life easier for their defensive colleagues such as Lovren by offering protection in midfield.
"It's very important that we defend as a team like we did so it's easier for the centre-halves," he added.
"If you give the other team open spaces, open gaps in the midfield, then it's nearly impossible to look good as a centre-half.
"How we did against Leicester or in other games, it makes the job easier for the centre-halves."
Henderson's performance against Claudio Ranieri's team was arguably his best since he returned to the starting XI against FC Sion on December 10.
And Klopp believes the club captain will be key to the Reds going forward as he begins to hit his stride and builds up fitness.
"He was strong. That's how it is, he gets his rhythm, and it's very important that he can stay in this rhythm," he continued.
"He was good at Watford, too, it wasn't easy for a player to be good at Watford but he was.
"The next step for him against Leicester he was really dominant, and it was the first time I think since I've been here that we played in a 4-4-2 with Hendo and Emre [Can] together both with an offensive idea.
"These two players aren't a six or eight, one of them has to protect our defence so sometimes we had to have a little conversation and they needed help from outside.
"But it was really good and I hope he stays fit and he will help us, of course - he's a high-quality player."