Klopp: Lallana loved being back - even the pain that came with it!

The playmaker started his first match for the Reds since March 6 in the 1-0 victory at Huddersfield Town, featuring for 69 minutes before being replaced by Fabinho at the John Smith’s Stadium.

And Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “He loved it, he even loved the pain he felt during the game! That’s how it is after that long period without proper football – he was fine, he just had little cramps in the calf, but it would have been a surprise if he didn’t.

“Apart from that, everything is good. It was a good game for him; it was hard work, not for shining because there was not enough space for that. The whole game was like that, but it was good to see and to have him back.”

Lallana suffered a groin problem while on duty with England in September that ruled him out of Liverpool’s run of seven games in 23 days prior to the most recent international break.

The No.20 completed his rehabilitation programme at Melwood before re-joining his teammates in full training, during which he caught the eye of the manager.

“If he would have played like he’d trained in the last two weeks before the game, we would have scored four,” Klopp stated. “He was unbelievable.

“[But] in a proper game, you need to have some rhythm to bring it into the game because everything is different – you are in the dressing room, you are changed, you know it’ll be a proper ref and not the manager whistling the game and stuff like that. It’s all a bit different.

“It’s all good and the game was more intense than what we did with him in the last few sessions because we didn’t want to kill him, we only wanted to prepare him. That’s good.

“He is an outstanding player - and especially with the few injuries we have it is so important to have him back and all good that we do.”