Klopp proud of young guns as injuries ease

LIVERPOOL – Jurgen Klopp said yesterday he was proud of his young players after they stepped up to help keep injury-hit Liverpool’s quadruple bid alive.

Klopp’s men beat Chelsea at Wembley last week to win the League Cup and then progressed to the FA Cup quarterfinals by beating Southampton in midweek.

Now Liverpool turn their attention to today’s Premier League fixture against struggling Nottingham Forest as they seek to extend their lead at the top of the table. They are just a single point ahead of defending champions Manchester City and two clear of in-form Arsenal.

Forward Darwin Nunez and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai could return for the trip to the City Ground but top scorer Mohamed Salah will not be ready. “I don’t think Mo is too far off, but he will not feature tomorrow and from there we have to go,” Liverpool Manager Klopp said at his pre-match press conference. “It’s like touch and go but I think next week at any point it’s possible. He is on the way back, definitely, but not there yet.”

Pride

The German spoke of his “joy and pride” in the performances of his youngsters, many of whom featured in Wednesday’s 3-0 win against Southampton at Anfield. “Yesterday (Thursday) was a wonderful day,” he said. “Usually when we win a trophy we do a staff picture and yesterday we did it 100 per cent with the full academy staff as well so it was a lot of people.”

Klopp, in his final season at Liverpool after nearly a decade in charge having made a shock decision to step down, was asked whether it would be difficult to leave such a promising group of youngsters behind. “I love the more senior players as well so I’ll miss them too,” he said.