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Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has said the squad have handled the absences of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana well, with their comebacks after the international break providing a chance to kick on. Mane played 77 minutes of Sunday's 4-1 win at West Ham, his first appearance in a month after a hamstring injury, while a source has told ESPN FC that Lallana is due to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly next week as he steps up his comeback from a thigh problem. Coutinho has joined the Brazil squad, despite an adductor problem forcing him to miss Liverpool's last three matches, and Mignolet is looking forward to seeing the trio back on the pitch together. "I think we've been a bit unfortunate with the injuries and the suspensions,'' he told Liverpool's official website. "If you have three of those kinds of players injured at the same time then it's obviously a tough thing to deal with, but at the same time the squad's stayed calm underneath it. "Hopefully after the international break they will be pushing the rest of the squad forward by adding in the goals and giving us a bigger platform to go from." Liverpool are fifth in the Premier League, four points behind second-placed Manchester United, and are one win away from qualification for the Champions League knockout stage. But they now face a run of 13 games in 45 days, including eight in 29 days during December. "If you get players like them coming back and being fresh after not playing much recently, that can give not only a boost to the team, but also a boost to them individually,'' Mignolet added. "They will be raring to go and very eager to get on the pitch and score the goals they've wanted to because they've been missing out. "I'm sure they will be ready for any battle that comes when we come back after the international break.'' Meanwhile, any distant hope manager Jurgen Klopp may have had of trying to bring forward RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita's move to Anfield has been dashed by the Bundesliga club.
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