Jurgen Klopp has suggested Curtis Jones will miss this weekend’s trip to West Ham, after suffering a freak training injury that leaves him needing to “lie down for a week.”
Jones was part of Liverpool’s open training session at Kirkby ahead of the midweek clash with Atletico Madrid, but was not named in the 22-man squad on the night.
Klopp turned to Takumi Minamino as replacement for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain midway through the second half of the 2-0 win as a result, while youngster Tyler Morton watched on from the bench.
It was revealed prior to kickoff that Jones had suffered an injury in training, with Klopp telling BT Sport that he “had a finger in the eye,” describing the situation as “extraordinary.”
Kostas Tsimikas played with a black eye, but the 20-year-old’s situation is clearly more troubling, with the manager giving more detail in an interview with beIN SPORTS.
“Always you need to be lucky a little bit with injuries here and there. We were now not that lucky, especially in midfield,” he said.
“Last night, in the last session, Curtis got a finger in his eye, scratched a little bit, can’t see from the eye at the moment, needs to lie down for a week.
“You learn a lot about what can happen to human beings when you are a football manager!
“I’ve never had something like that. It will be fine, but it needs a while. These are the situations.”
Though Jones is out against West Ham, Klopp’s options are boosted as both Fabinho and Thiago made their return during the victory at Anfield.
Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed in his first Champions League start in 18 months, while Minamino caught the manager’s eye, giving him plenty to consider as he prepares for the trip to east London.
“Taki came on and was incredibly good, Oxlade played a really good game today, but did they have rhythm? Probably not,” he continued.
“They did not play that often, but they are just good players.
“That’s what we always say before a season: we need you all.
“From time to time you have to show it as a manager as well, and that was now really easy, because they really showed up.
“We play, so far, an absolutely OK season, and you cannot do that when you don’t have good players, obviously. We have good players.”
Fan Comments