Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that he will be without captain Jordan Henderson until April as he continues to struggle with a foot injury.
Henderson has missed his side’s last three games with the setback, with Liverpool bouncing back from a loss at Leicester City with wins over Arsenal and Burnley to get their push for a top-four Premier League finish back on track.
However, that pursuit of Champions League football will continue without their midfield leader, albeit possibly only for one game as they take on Manchester City at the Etihad this weekend.
After that, there’s an international break during which Klopp has suggested that Henderson could start running again. However, that would still leave him as a major doubt for the Merseyside derby on April 1.
There’s no let up in the fixture list thereafter either which could be troublesome as the Reds face Bournemouth just four days later, and on April 8 they take on Stoke City.
As a result, Klopp will have an important decision on his hands as he won’t want to rush Henderson back either and risk seeing him suffer another setback, thus putting the pressure on the likes of Emre Can to continue to step in and deliver.
The international break will give the 26-year-old a bit more time to recover, but it remains to be seen how many more games he misses before returning to full fitness and claiming his place in the team back.
Klopp confirms Henderson is unlikely to return before April: “Hopefully he can run in the second week of the break, then we'll see.” #LFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) March 13, 2017