Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on the fitness of Jordan Henderson as the captain sat out of the Reds’ 7-2 victory over Blackpool.
The midfielder is continuing his recovery from the injury sustained at the tail end of last season that kept him out of the Premier League run-in.
Given the fact that Henderson had resumed training at Melwood, there was an expectation he’d make an appearance against Blackpool this weekend.
The boss has explained that the skipper wanted to play at Anfield, but it simply wasn’t worth risking further injury for a pre-season friendly.
“Obviously Hendo was desperate to play a few minutes today as well, but it makes no real sense because he had to do an important session today for him,” Klopp told the club’s official site before kick-off.
“If he would have played today, 10 minutes or so would have probably been OK. But that makes no sense. So that was not possible, but he trained in big parts of this week and will probably join full team training next Tuesday.
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“Timing-wise, not perfect that he cannot play today, but can train a few days later fully. But that’s how it is.
“We will see how he develops, [there are] a few days until Leeds, how the boys come back from the national teams. A lot of open questions still, but a few hopefully we can answer today.”
Liverpool take on Leeds United next weekend and will be desperate for three points off the bat, kicking-off our Premier League title defence.
Gini Wijnaldum is due back from international duty with the Netherlands soon, which should ease the pressure on Henderson’s race for fitness.
Earlier today it was reported that Andy Robertson may return to Merseyside ahead of time because Scotland and Czech Republic’s game had been cancelled.
UEFA later confirmed that the Nations League fixture would go ahead as planned, and the hosts would be forced to switch out their entire playing and coaching staff due to COVID-19 concerns.