Jor gotta dig for victory... without our African stars

ARSENAL v LIVERPOOL CARABAO CUP SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG, THURSDAY, 7.45PM

BY GIDEON BROOKS JORDAN HENDERSON says Liverpool will need to “dig in” to keep Manchester City in their sights while their biggest guns are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mo Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane (all above) departed for the four-week tournament in Cameroon following the draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Liverpool have slipped 11 points behind leaders City, but can forget their league struggles when they face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Thursday at the Emirates.

Henderson (below) conceded those left behind were going to have to work hard to reach Wembley and to ensure that the gap in the league table does not increase before their African stars get back.

“We know how strong City are, how Chelsea are, the whole of the Premier League,” said the midfielder.

“Everybody in the squad needs to be ready to play over the next few weeks, especially without Naby, Sadio and Mo.

“That’s football, you dig in, you keep going as a squad and hopefully we get our rewards come the end of the season.”

Liverpool have dropped seven points in their last three Premier League games and now sit third, a point behind Chelsea but with a game in hand.

Yet Henderson insisted the thrilling draw was a step forward – even though they let the victory slip through their fingers having raced into an early 2-0 lead.

“We would have liked to have taken the three points to try to get closer to City but, unfortunately we couldn’t do that,” he said.

“We’re disappointed with the goals we conceded.

“The first one is an outstanding finish but the lead up to it, we were disappointed with. Then conceding so quickly on the second one, we’ll be disappointed with that also.

“But the lads came out and gave it everything in the second half.

“Chelsea are always going to create chances at home, but we defended and showed great spirit to keep going and keep digging in when the crowd was up.

“We were disappointed with the previous game against Leicester. Overall, we weren’t at the

races

and we can play a lot, lot better. If we do that then I think we would get the three points.

“But we showed a reaction on Sunday to keep going, keep digging in when things aren’t going our way – to just try to keep going – and we ended up getting a point. So there are still some positives to take forward and still a lot of football to play from now until the end of the season.

“We will just give it absolutely everything when we get on the pitch.”

Salah and Co will miss both legs against Arsenal, an FA Cup tie with League One Shrewsbury and at least two Premier League fixtures, when Brentford come to Anfield and the Reds go to Crystal Palace.