Klopp's fitness update: Moreno, illnesses and more
Jürgen Klopp relished the chance to give Alberto Moreno a second appearance since December as he balances his squad options for the run-in.
The Liverpool manager lost three players to illness – namely Danny Ings, Georginio Wijnaldum and Ben Woodburn – ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with West Ham United.
But as the Reds claimed a comfortable 4-1 victory over the visitors, Klopp was able to hand minutes to Adam Lallana, Moreno and Dominic Solanke in the second half.
“It’s good. We need them all. They all used the opportunity,” he told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I loved the situation that I could give Alberto this little sniff of a game again – because he deserves it. He trains on [such a high] level.
“We need the boys. Robbo is in fantastic shape at the moment, of course, but what happens if he gets the flu? You need the next one still in good shape.
“We cannot talk after a game and exchange excuses and say, ‘we had a problem here or there’. The boys need to be ready all the time, constantly. That’s something we really have to make sure.”
Klopp’s side climbed to second in the table, temporarily at least, with the win against the Hammers and consolidated their position in the top-four battle with 10 games to go.
The boss added: “Now we have to stay healthy because [on Thursday] we had 21 players plus goalkeepers, and then three players got ill overnight – got the flu. Hopefully we can deal with that and go again.”