The manager's update on Joel Matip fitness
Joel Matip's injury must be monitored carefully as Jürgen Klopp considers the right time for the Liverpool centre-back to return from his ankle issue.
The No.32 missed the clashes with Middlesbrough and Everton due to the problem, and the manager is erring on the side of caution with the summer arrival’s fitness.
“We could have tried to bring him back in the Everton game, [but] then it would have been a 95 per cent probability that he is out for the next game,” Klopp said as he previewed the visit of Stoke City.
“So we decided to give him the time he needed to really settle, because he has had these problems for a few weeks.
LFCTV GO: Klopp's pre-Stoke press conference
“It was always close – next game probably, then not, then he could play, then he was in the squad but we couldn’t use him. We tried everything.
“But at the end you have to accept how it is. It is not possible that he feels 100 per cent comfortable and that makes it really difficult.
“I spoke to him a few minutes ago and he was very positive. But he [has been] out of training for a few days already, and as long as we have other players in training all the time, we will choose them.”