Press conferenceInjury news: Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate to miss West Ham v Liverpool

The defenders are yet to rejoin team training as they work their way back to fitness after sustaining injuries during the victory over Real Madrid in late November.

Therefore, Bradley and Konate will not be available to Arne Slot for the 5.15pm GMT kick-off at London Stadium – the Reds’ final fixture of 2024, in which they will seek to consolidate their position as Premier League leaders.

Slot said: “They will not be back for West Ham United, but then there is a week in between [before the game against Manchester United] so let’s see how close they are then.

“It’s difficult for me to tell you at this moment because they don’t train with the group yet, but hopefully in the upcoming days they come closer to that situation. And then again, Ibou has been out then for five or six weeks maybe, Conor just as long I think, the same amount.

“And also for them, they are in competition with players that are completely fit and doing really well, so I have to make the right judgement the moment they are back with the team.”

The head coach was speaking after Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Leicester City.

Diogo Jota came off the bench for the fourth match in a row on Boxing Day following a two-month injury lay-off and Slot was asked how close the forward is to starting again or whether his fitness is still being managed.

Slot replied: “I think the last thing, for sure, we’re still managing his fitness. He has been out for quite a long time and he couldn’t train that much.

“Sometimes if a player has an injury he can do a lot, but he couldn’t do a lot for quite a long time. Since this league is so intense, it’s not so easy if you are almost two months out to come in and play from the start again.

“You need to have some minutes to build this up. And he is in competition with some other special players as well who are at this moment also on top of their game.

“He is gradually building it up and I think he comes close to starting a game, but like I said, he has competition in this position as well.”

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