Liverpool man Joel Matip came through a behind-closed-doors friendly fixture unscathed as he stepped up his efforts to regain full fitness following a thigh injury, the ECHO reports.
Matip has been plagued with injury woes for some time now and suffered a setback during Liverpool’s recent pre-season tour of the United States. The defender hobbled off in the Reds’ defeat to Borussia Dortmund and has not been available since.
However, Matip stepped up his rehabilitation efforts as he played in a 60-minute long fixture at Melwood, with no further knocks or injuries sustained.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has seen his central defensive options limited in recent times, with all three of Matip, Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren struggling for fitness.
This led the Reds manager to start Joe Gomez in central defence next to Virgil van Dijk in what was a comprehensive win for Liverpool on the opening day of the season against West Ham United.
The Reds swept the Hammers aside with a 4-0 victory as goals from Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge sandwiched a brace from Sadio Mane at Anfield.
