Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that injured duo James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri are “close” to returning, but are not ready to play any part against Southampton, as reported by The Athletic’s James Pearce.
Milner has been suffering from a muscle issue since early January, where he was forced off from the FA Cup third-round clash against Everton after just nine minutes.
As for Swiss international Shaqiri, he’s been battling a calf strain which he picked up during a training session, as reported on the Liverpool Echo.
As quoted on Liverpool’s official website, Klopp said in his press conference about Shaqiri and Milner:
Not for this game but then afterwards, hopefully.
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Shaqiri has only played 174 minutes of league action this season, which highlights his fitness problems this term.
The good news for the team and the players is that they’re close to making their return, which boosts the squad because Klopp will have more options available to him.
With the Reds still challenging for the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, having as many players fit as possible is key and to have two players like Milner and Shaqiri close to returning is great news because of the number of matches the team has to play.
The bad news for the players and the team is that they’re not quite ready to return against Southampton later today.
The Reds are 19 points clear at the top of the table and it would have been a good chance for the duo to get some minutes under their belt from the bench.
However, we feel there’s no point risking them aggravating their injuries by playing them when they’re not ready because this could mean they miss even more matches.
