Daniel Sturridge must become more resilient – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp declared himself satisfied after his Liverpool team finished top of their Europa League qualifying group thanks to a drab 0-0 draw away to FC Sion.

On a partially icy pitch, players from both sides struggled for control on the bobbly surface and it seemed inevitable the match would end without a goal, or indeed a save of note from either goalkeeper.

‘The first thing we had to do was show character and show you are prepared, ‘ said Klopp.

“Nobody is injured and they were very focused and concentrated on the game, so everything is okay”. It was not our best football, we all know that, but frozen ground is for other sports usually.

“We saw the pitch and we knew what can happen on a pitch like this, but as a professional football manager you cannot talk about the pitch beforehand”. “In a tournament of this level, you shouldn’t be worrying about the ground – that’s not good”.

“I can’t say what we will do exactly, but we have to look at it”.

“When I came here everyone was clear about what they expected from me: to become a top player but there are already top players in the team so I don’t have to ask myself too many questions”.

However, manager Jurgen Klopp has come out to play down the severity of the knock, but added that he can not predict an expected return date at the moment. In England we have wind and rain and we don’t just stay inside.

Liverpool’s basic stats against Newcastle – their total distance covered and number of sprints – were typical of the kind of figures we have seen in some of their impressive wins under Klopp, but something was clearly missing from their performance, and it started up front.

Brad Smith made his full debut at left-back and the young Aussie did well, although the host’s defensive outlook made it easier for him.

Divock Origi missed a chance to open the scoring early on when he tried to volley in a cross when meeting it with a header may have been a better option.

Both Liverpool and FC Sion advance to the Europa League knockout stages with a goalless draw. “But tonight they have to win to go through and if we win we finish first in the group and that’s what we want to do”.

“We will see how important it (first place) is – there are a lot of good teams in second place and also teams from the Champions League”.