Jürgen Klopp on Ajax, Reds’ UCL qualification prospects, consistency and more

The Reds can clinch progression to the last 16 of the competition on matchday five by securing a point or more in Amsterdam, with leaders Napoli having already qualified.

Previewing the Group A contest, Klopp attended a press conference at Johan Cruyff Arena on Tuesday evening – read on to see what he had to say...

On the difference between Liverpool's home and away results so far this season...

In this competition it is not that big so far – we lost one and we won one. First was Fulham, not a good game, very early [in the season]. [The] first away game was City, a very good game. So, no, I have not thought about it, to be honest. It is nothing in my mind at the moment, I am not sitting here and thinking about away [from home] we have a problem and that’s why I have to say something special for tomorrow. I prepare the team for a very important football game and, sorry, but I am not prepared for this question in this moment. I had other things to do in the last few days.

On how he deals with the current situation...

The job is always quite stressful, if you want. If you win all the time it is stress as well, but it is nicer – life around winning football games is much better. Can I explain it? Yes, it’s a mix of a few things what we can see; we see the performances and they’re not as stable and as consistent as they were. That's clear now. Explanations for that? Injuries are a little bit, but in the very beginning, we started against City and played really well and then we played [in the] Premier League against Fulham and didn’t play well. Played then at home against Crystal Palace, where we played well for – not to forget – very early in the season, got a red card and then drew the game. Now we were playing catch up with everything and we couldn't put in consistent performances, that’s the point we know. We were now in a good moment until we lost Nottingham Forest in a strange game with a lot of problems for us. Some players were injured, some players were not allowed to play but were there, let me say it like this, and then you play against a deep-defending side and you lose a game after a set-piece which we should win. So, do I expect us to play better consistently? Yes. Am I ready to make the necessary steps to get there? Yes. Very good performances on a consistent level don’t fall off the trees, you have to work for it and you have to go for it in the long-term and that's what we are doing. We are working and trying to turn each screw and will do that without being nervous or thinking something is going against us. We know it is a difficult situation, it will be difficult tomorrow here away against Ajax, but I think it makes sense to be optimistic and that’s what I am.

On the prospect of securing qualification on Wednesday night...

Yes, it would be absolutely great, but I cannot sit here and tell you I feel it already as if we would be halfway through. There is a game and 95 minutes in between – and if it happens then I can tell you it was really big and really important, but in this moment we just prepare for the game. After our start in the group stage, it was not that people thought it was likely this can happen, but it happened and now we have to try to close it for us, the group, and that’s what we’re here for.

On how Liverpool can find consistency...

Look, what you need for really clicking is consistency in the line-up as well and we can't do that in the moment, not at all. How I said, when it starts with injuries then the problem is the players who have no injuries have to play often and the players who have injuries, when they come back have to play too early very often, that’s how it is. Then they come back and play and they have another, not injury, but things and then the medical department tells you they cannot play longer than 20 minutes, they shouldn't do this, they shouldn't do that and these kind of things. That’s how you go in a Premier League game against a team with a knife between their teeth, so that is tricky.Obviously, that situation is not sorted overnight. Yes, players are coming back, but when I was asked if Ibou is now ready to play – he trained yesterday the first day properly. So, yes, he was not long out but he had a muscle thing, so does it make sense to bring him in directly for 95 minutes? I am not sure.

The same with Naby, he needs to train, Oxalde needs to train. They are both not in the Champions League squad anyway because everybody told me they will be out for longer, but now they are back which is good – [but] not back to play but back to be around and play a few minutes. Curtis is back, a few others are back and, of course, that is all helpful. But no complaints, no moaning, nothing, it is just the situation. The situation before Nottingham Forest was really strange that you have to play a player who didn't play for a long time in Curtis Jones – and he did really well in a position he never played because in the night something happened [to Thiago Alcantara]. That is difficult.

On top of that, a lot of players didn’t play their best football in a difficult game with no real patterns on the pitch, which is rare – usually you have a few patterns, but in this game we didn't have a lot against a deep-defending side, not easy.So, we will see what we can do tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the game, I am really positive, it is Champions League, it is Ajax, big names, a big game and all these kind of things. It’s all good. We have enough players here so we will give it a proper try. We played really good a couple of times, but it’s not that we are without problems – we play a good game and then two players are out after the game and you think, 'Wow' and another one not available for longer than 20 minutes, so that is not easy with the squad we have in the moment. Our squad is not too small but we have just too many injuries and that's a problem, but for tomorrow we have enough players here, so good news for all people who are with us. We have enough players here and hopefully tomorrow that's still the case.