Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp could be handed a major injury boost as Adrian has insisted that he’s optimistic he will be able to face Southampton.
The 32-year-old was the hero for the Merseyside giants in midweek as his penalty save in the shoot-out against Chelsea helped secure the UEFA Super Cup.
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However, he sustained a freak injury in the celebrations after the game as a fan was able to get onto the pitch and after losing his footing and sliding into Adrian, the Spaniard took a knock to his ankle which handed Liverpool a major injury headache.
First-choice goalkeeper Alisson is already ruled out with a calf injury which he suffered in the opening fixture of the season against Norwich City last week, and so Klopp would have been desperate to avoid looking at his third-string options so early in the campaign.
Fortunately for him, based on Adrian’s comments below, it sounds as though there is a real level of optimism about his ability to pass a fitness test and get the green light from the medical staff to face the Saints.
“Today I feel much better,” he told the club’s official site. “I hope [I’m] ready for tomorrow. Yeah, I think I have many chances [of facing Southampton]. I feel mentally ready and I also hope today with the treatment of the ankle it’s going to be much better.
“But I’m very optimistic to start playing tomorrow again.”
Adrian was of course speaking on Friday evening, and so it remains to be seen whether or not a further few hours of treatment and recovery will ensure that he can feature.
Klopp will certainly hope he can otherwise it may well be a case of throwing veteran Andy Lonergan into the mix to step in and fill the void.
