Jürgen Klopp: ‘I don’t want to bring Daniel Sturridge back too soon’

Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho looked to be in good spirits as Liverpool completed their first training session of 2016 at Melwood ahead of their Premier League trip to West Ham United on Saturday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stressed that he is deliberately taking it easy with Daniel Sturridge as he does not want take any unnecessary risks with the forward.

“They are lacking fitness but they have started training with us”.

“I am not holding Daniel back, I am trying to get him fit”, said the Reds manager.

Klopp has instigated a “mini pre-season” for his star striker as he attempts to rid the 26-year-old of the series of niggly problems which have meant he has started just one game for Liverpool since the German arrived in the first week of October, as well as two appearances from the bench.

“He trained intensive and now we must see how he reacts”. “We have West Ham, then Stoke, then Exeter, then Arsenal”.

Fellow Liverpool forward Divock Origi is out with a hamstring problem, though, as is midfielder James Milner, while Joe Allen is suffering with a sickness bug. “It depends how he trains today but I am expecting him to be in the squad”, he said. We are not moaning about that, ‘ Bilic said. After our last win the players were not celebrating; they were sitting still, thinking about the next game.

Their 1-0 victories over Leicester and Sunderland, both secured by goals from striker Christian Benteke, were not pretty but stopped the rot after three Premier League games without a win. They sit just below Liverpool in eighth, and will also go fifth if they can take all three points today.

“On the pitch, we are progressing well, and we have two transfer windows coming up so, by this time next year, a lot of things will be different”. “It’s not a game we will talk about in 10 years but nevertheless it’s really important”.