Flanagan in contention as Klopp confirms changes for Exeter

The full-back has returned to fitness following a knee injury that ruled him out of the entire 2014-15 season and the opening months of the current campaign.

In recent weeks, Flanagan has turned out for the Reds’ U21 side and is now on the brink of a senior return for the first time since May 2014 in tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round replay with the Grecians.

Klopp told reporters at Melwood: “Jon is in a really good way and we’re all happy about this.

“As a manager you can decide a lot but not all, so that means the medical department decided that he didn’t train yesterday with us. He will train today with us.

“He is not [ready] for the starting line-up, but if nothing happens and he feels good then he will be on the bench. If there is a situation then we will bring him [on], of course. It has really been a long time for him.

“I think now it’s the first step back for him to breathe in and feel Anfield; being back in the dressing room, not in a suit but a tracksuit, so it’s a good, good step for him. If nobody tells me something different, he will be in the squad.”

Klopp elected to make 11 changes for the original meeting with Exeter on January 8 in a game that concluded with an enthralling 2-2 draw at St James Park.

The manager confirmed he is likely to select a similar line-up this time around, with several of the club’s Academy graduates and youngsters likely to be given another opportunity.

“There are different things we have to talk about and it is not always injury situations,” explained Klopp. “We’ve had a few players in the squads for the games against Manchester United and Arsenal that were injured a few weeks ago.

“We have to think about for who it makes sense and for who it’s not too dangerous or difficult to start again. We have to build a squad with players who are in a situation to win the game, to help us, where there’s not too much doubt about [recurring] injuries and things like this.

“That’s the first thing we have to think about before the Exeter game, so it will be a similar team to last time.”

Klopp was eager to insist that his decision to make changes is purely an attempt to maintain freshness within his squad due to their hectic fixture schedule as he stressed Liverpool’s commitment to trying to win the competition.

The boss added: “We will do everything. I can tell you, if someone thinks we’re playing with the team we will play because we don’t think the FA Cup is the most important competition it would be the biggest misunderstanding in the world.

“We have some injuries. You see always when we are fresh in mind and legs that we’re able to perform, and you can see we are more than competitive, in the game and we create chances. Then there’s the next game and we have to decide if it’s too much for a player? Can we change or not or do we have to try it again like this? All these decisions we have to make and that’s normal.

“Of course it would be better if we would have had more opportunities, but we don’t have that in this moment so we will play now tomorrow with a team with fresh legs. We want to go to the next round, but it is not easy – we saw that at Exeter – but it’ll be a different game. We’ll try to take the chance to go to the next round and then we have the next game at Norwich.”

One man who won’t be involved against Exeter is Daniel Sturridge as he continues his rehabilitation programme at Melwood.

“There is absolutely no chance for Daniel,” said Klopp. “He had a break in his training sessions because of some issues; he is now back on the pitch and again training.

“He has had no team training until now since Newcastle, so that’s not a situation where we can think about him. We have always to find solutions.”