Jurgen Klopp has revealed another injury setback for Curtis Jones in a difficult start to the season for the midfielder, with more positive news on Fabio Carvalho.
The new campaign has yet to get underway for Jones, who came off the bench in the Community Shield but has only been in the team of the day one other time so far.
That came in a 2-1 win over Newcastle at the end of August, when the 21-year-old recovered from a calf injury that kept him out for a month, in the belief that he would return to his regular duties.
But Jones was again absent from the Merseyside derby last weekend and did not travel to Naples for Wednesday’s opening Champions League match.
In his pre-match press conference, Klopp explained that Jones had suffered a recurrence of his previous injury and while “it wasn’t as bad” as before, it still “isn’t much help”.
“Curtis, when he was out earlier, he had a stress reaction on a specific bone around his tibia,” the manager told reporters.
“It was absolutely fine, no problem anymore. Trained twice, I felt it again.
“It’s not as bad as the first time, but it’s bad enough that I don’t get to participate in team training again, which doesn’t help much.”
Jones’ ongoing woes come on top of the sackings of Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while Carvalho was also omitted from the 21-man squad to face Napoli.
Carvalho suffered a dead leg during the 0-0 draw with Everton, leaving Klopp with fewer and fewer options in midfield despite Thiago’s return from a hamstring problem.
But Klopp is optimistic about his No. 28 and hopes he can return for visiting Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
“Fabio suffered a huge dead leg, which caused some muscle problems, so there was no chance,” he said.
“He is walking normally now, but there was no chance to train until now.
“Hopefully every day it will get better and that it will be ready for the weekend, but I’m not 100 percent sure.