Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has sought to temper expectations of an imminent return to action for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The midfielder sustained a serious injury during the Champions League semi-final against AS Roma, and has been watching the Reds from the sidelines ever since.
Footage of the midfielder working with a ball in Dubai has excited some fans to the extent that they are already prophesying what the team will look like with Oxlade reinserted.
The boss, however, is remaining more cautious.
Speaking to the official club website (quoted by the Daily Mirror), Klopp said:
I loved it like the fans loved it, if they loved it. It is just brilliant. I didn’t lie, I said when you see him moving it is just unbelievable, he looks completely fine. The situation is now that we have to build endurance.
What they did so far, it makes sense. You do the things to make sure the knee is again at 100 per cent. That’s obviously the case and that’s good, but from that moment on then you need time to adapt to the intensity of the game and that will take a while.
But I pretty much can’t wait until we can involve him, at least for [a few] minutes. It is so nice.
