Jordan Henderson wanted to get back on the pitch this afternoon, but Jurgen Klopp says the skipper will return to full training early next week.
The Liverpool captain has been absent through a knee injury since the match at Brighton in early July, sitting out the final games of the title-winning 2019/20 but having enough stability in the leg to perform the all-important Hendo Shuffle.
After lifting the trophy though it was all about a summer of rehabilitation for the No. 14 and he’s on the verge of a return to action.
Klopp says he could have been involved in some capacity for the match against Blackpool on Saturday, but it made “no real sense” to involve him for a few minutes at Anfield rather than having a full-on training session at Melwood.
“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 said to the club website.
“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.
“Timing-wise, not perfect that he cannot play today, but can train a few days later fully. But that’s how it is.”
With regards to the opening of the league campaign, Klopp says it depends on how Hendo reacts to a return to action whether or not he’ll be involved.
There is also the consideration of how fit international players are after coming back from Nations League duty in midweek.
“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.”
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