Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he has no issues with Mo Salah after the Egyptian international appeared to blank him following his substitution in the draw against Brighton on Saturday.

The forward was clearly angered after being taken off on the hour mark. However, Klopp says Salah is never happy when he is subbed but he needed to be replaced for his own good after only recently recovering from the virus:

“The day when Mo Salah is smiling when he leaves the pitch something is really wrong. So I get it, 100 per cent. The problem is he had COVID, was out for 10-12 days, trained once, played 60 minutes, three days later, played again. We just have to be careful, he doesn’t like it I know but that’s it.”

Klopp has no choice but to protect his star players considering the congested fixture schedule and the number of injuries that the Reds are currently having to deal with.

The Premier League champions suffered another setback with vice-captain James Milner picking up a hamstring problem at the weekend, which means there are now eight players on the sidelines.

Salah may well start on Tuesday when Liverpool take on Ajax in the Champions League with the Reds keen to secure qualification after failing to do so against Atalanta last week.