Jurgen Klopp: ‘I won’t rush Jordan Henderson back into Liverpool team’

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that he will not rush Jordan Henderson back into the team following his lengthy injury layoff.

The club captain has played just two games for the Reds this season as he broke a bone in his foot during a training session in mid-August.

Klopp has claimed that the midfielder, who recently returned to training, is desperate to play, but the German coach will not throw him back into the fold quickly. “He wants [to play] and we have to wait,” Klopp told reporters. “We have to wait every day how we adapt the intensity of the last day, the next morning, feel good and that’s all we can say.

If he’s ready and we see, he can join in our game. He is a very important player for us. “I’m waiting for him. For a player like him and after his little history with injury, he’s always at the door! ‘Give me 10 minutes, five minutes, whatever.’ I like this but it’s not always the best thing to do.

But he’s a big step ahead now. “In his case, we always have to wait how we can adapt the intensity – that’s not my intensity or what we are doing in training, it’s his intensity. Everything we do, he does 120%. You need to be prepared for this.

A player like Hendo needs perfect physical [condition], he has to be really fit, not only 50%. If he is in this shape, we can use him and he can help us.”

Meanwhile, Klopp has told Daniel Sturridge, who has suffered another injury setback, that he needs to manage his pain.