Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

Sadio Mane a doubt to face Southampton, Klopp OK after illness

LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will have to wait to see whether Sadio Mane will be fit for Saturday's match with his former club Southampton.

Mane was sent home early from international duty with Senegal this week after he "slightly felt his old [hamstring] injury," according to the Senegalese Football Federation.

The 25-year-old had missed five matches with a hamstring issue before he made a surprise return in the 4-1 win at West Ham prior to the international break.

Speaking at his prematch news conference on Friday, Klopp said: "Sadio, we have to wait. We will see today [if he can face Southampton]."

Adam Lallana returned to full training earlier this week, but Klopp stressed that the England international will not be rushed back to action following an extended period on the sidelines.

Lallana has not played at all this season after injuring his thigh during a preseason friendly with Atletico Madrid in August.

"Adam is in training now since three days or four days [ago]," Klopp said. "It was a really long [time], it is fantastic that he is back. He lost nothing, no skills or anything. He trained really well but in the next few weeks we have games every three days and we will need him for that.

"There is no rush in it even when everyone who knows Adam can imagine how ready he is to be part of the squad again, so we will see what we do in this case."

Klopp himself had a health scare earlier this week when he was self-admitted to hospital with illness that forced him to miss training on Wednesday.

"I feel really good," he said. "I am 50 now so maybe I need to get used to it, but that's twice already in a British hospital now. Whatever people say about the NHS [National Health Service], it's not as bad as you think!

"I have to thank a lot of people. Not because it was serious, only because they were so nice. I'm not ill. I'm not sure if you're happy about it, but I think it's kind of good news!"

Ahead of the Southampton game, Klopp refused to be drawn into Liverpool's ill-fated pursuit of Virgil van Dijk in the summer, which forced the Merseyside club to publicly apologise to the Saints amid tapping-up allegations.

When asked about Van Dijk, Klopp said: "You expect an answer? There's nothing to say about that."

Elsewhere, the Liverpool manager reacted to news that defender Nathaniel Clyne is expected to be out until around February after he underwent an operation to correct a lingering back injury that has kept him out of action this season.

"Clyney, things like this happen," Klopp said. "All the specialists agreed we should try it the conservative way without the surgery, and now everybody agreed we now had to use it.

"We are all sure Clyney will be fine, but when he will be back it will have been a long time for him. That's not to change anymore and he is already in the last period of the recovery from the issue. Now we made the surgery, it is clear that he will be back round about and that's good. Of course, for him it's difficult."

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