Jurgen Klopp has opened up on the cautious approach Liverpool have taken with Dominik Szoboszlai‘s recovery ahead of a possible return to the starting line-up.
The Hungarian missed four games in January as a result of a hamstring strain picked up against Newcastle, and then immediately suffered a recurrence upon making his comeback against Chelsea.
As such, the Reds have taken extra care with Szoboszlai’s rehabilitation this time around, enforcing a seven-match absence from the starting XI that could end against Sparta Prague tomorrow.
And Klopp admits it hasn’t been easy to keep the midfielder sidelined for so long given his eagerness to return.
Asked by a Hungarian journalist if the midfielder might be fit to start on Thursday, the German replied: “You might be surprised, but we don’t talk about line-ups in these press conferences!
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“It’s good that he’s back. You know him probably very well, he loves playing football, being injured for him is tough, tough, tough.
“It was not an injury where it was painful every day, he was just not allowed to train properly, how it is with muscle injuries.
“So that’s the reason why we had to be careful in his rehab because, if we would have asked Dom, he could have trained completely with the team since two or three weeks.
“But the medical advisors told us no, no, we have to wait, and that’s what we did. Now he’s back, played a few minutes and is in the squad. All the rest, we will see.”
Szoboszlai’s fellow midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is also glad to see him back and told reporters: “He’s an amazing player, nice lad as well. He’s doing very well.
“He had an injury but we cannot forget what he brings to the team, he is definitely as important as every player in this team and a special guy.”
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