It looks like good news Reds as far as Nathaniel Clyne’s fitness is concerned.
The right-back missed out on Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United through injury but Jurgen Klopp is optimistic that he will recover in time for this weekend’s game against Swansea.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s FA Cup third round replay against Plymouth, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “With Nathaniel, it was a muscle between the ribs. Everybody who has ever bruised their ribs knows OK, sometimes you think it’s better broken.”
“It’s really painful, but now we know after a scan that there is nothing else and each day helps him to settle and get back on the pitch, if you want. So we give him for sure, we have to, two or three more days and then hopefully he can start running and all that stuff.”
“He is, how everyone can imagine – he made nearly all the games since I’m in and before, probably, [he’s] one of the hardest we have so the first second when it’s possible he’s out there. He has a big chance, I think, for Swansea.”
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Clyne’s return comes at an ideal time with our busy schedule and run of difficult games promising to put our squad’s strength in depth to the test.
Having said this, we are, as Klopp reminded us on Sunday, in good hands at right-back with 18-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold catching the eye with an assured and mature performance in place of the absent Clyne at the weekend.
If Clyne is declared fit enough to feature on Saturday then we expect him to slot straight back into the starting lineup. If not, though, we have plenty of faith in his younger understudy to put in another strong display.