Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed "physical monster" Mohamed Salah is in contention to face Leicester City on Thursday after Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations heartbreak.
Salah played the full 120 minutes of Sunday's AFCON final loss to Senegal, with his side beaten 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw after extra time.
The 29-year-old returned to training with Liverpool less than 48 hours later, however, and has declared himself ready to play a part against Leicester at Anfield.
"Mo is now back. I have spoken to him already," Klopp told the Reds' official website on Tuesday.
"He is very disappointed of course, but looking forward to all the things coming up here now.
"I spoke to him and pretty much the first thing Mo told me was: 'I'm ready'. He is an experienced player; a physical monster, to be honest, so we have to see.
"He will obviously have a little recovery session today and we will see how he feels tomorrow and from there we go.
"The proper plan we don't have, play him as often and as long as possible is probably the plan, but we will not rush it.
"But if he is fine we will not leave him out for the wrong reasons as well, so let's see."
While Salah was left to rue what might have been for Egypt, club-mate Sadio Mane was celebrating a maiden international title after scoring the decisive spot-kick for Senegal.
Mane was still celebrating his country's triumph in Dakar on Monday and will not be considered for selection by Klopp against Leicester.
"Sadio has no chance as he's not even here, but Mo yes," Klopp said.
"Sadio flies out if it's possible on Wednesday night, so will arrive here on Thursday but he is, of course, then not involved in the Leicester game.
"It means the world to him, it means the world to his people, it means the world to Senegal.
"We respect that a lot and we would never consider to have called back him from there or whatever – let them do what they do in the moment because they deserve it.
"They've had an incredibly intense time, so when he is back we will talk to him and we will see how we can use him."
Mane missed a penalty early on in the final and Klopp praised the forward for keeping his cool when it came to stepping up for the decisive spot-kick in the shoot-out.
"The pressure on Sadio with missing the penalty in the game and then the last one… wow! I cannot imagine how he would have felt," the German said.
"But you could see the joy and relief after that so he was obviously in the best possible shape.
"We have text a little bit here and there but he is still in Africa, still in Senegal, celebrating and we will see – Wednesday night or something like that we will send him out.
"But yes, it was obviously a big tournament and meant the world to him.
"I think both played a great tournament. The responsibility on their shoulders is absolutely [huge] and the pressure on their shoulders is absolutely insane.
"I don't even have an idea how it must feel in these moments, they carry pretty much a whole country.
"So, Mo couldn't make it but played a really good tournament and Sadio made it and yes, now I have to say really congratulations, outstanding."
While Liverpool must wait for Mane's return, potentially having Salah back involved against Leicester is a huge boost for the Reds.
Salah has scored 16 goals in 20 Premier League games this term – six more than anyone else – while assisting nine times, a tally only Trent Alexander-Arnold (10) can better.
Indeed, no player in Europe's top five league has scored and assisted more combined goals this season than Salah, who is level with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski on 25.
Liverpool have lost their last two league games against Leicester, but they have won five in a row at Anfield in the top flight in what is their best-such run since December 2020.
Klopp also confirmed Joe Gomez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are back in training after missing Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round win against Cardiff City.
Erik Ten Hag says reaction to Manchester United’s FA Cup win was ’embarrassing’
Erik Ten Hag has branded the reaction to Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”.
Having let slip a 3-0 lead at Wembley with 20 minutes to go and then won on penalties after the Championship side had an extra-time goal disallowed for a marginal offside, United were heavily criticised by pundits and fans alike despite making it back-to-back finals.
Ten Hag met a question about whether he understood the response at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Sheffield United with a feisty response, saying: “No, absolutely not.
“The question: ‘Is it embarrassing?’ No, the reaction from you was embarrassing. It is the comments. Top football is about results, we made it to a final and we deserved it not only by this game but also the other games.
“We lost control for 20 minutes, we also had bad luck, 3-2, 3-3. We were very lucky in the end, clear. Penalties was very good and we made it to the final, it is a huge achievement. Twice in two years is magnificent.
“For me as a manager, four cup finals in four years. The comments are a disgrace.”
Antony has come in for particular criticism after he cupped his ear with his hand in a mocking gesture towards the Coventry players when Rasmus Hojlund netted the winning penalty.
Ten Hag accepted Antony was wrong but claimed he was provoked, saying: “That’s why, this was a reaction of that, you haven’t seen the provocation, only the reaction. But he should not do it.
“I have seen Harry Maguire straight after and others, we should acknowledge the performance of Coventry to come into that…and the comeback. Also see we are 70 minutes totally dominating the game by far and creating many chances.
“At 3-0 it must have been the game is closed but the return from their side was very good.”
The collapse added further intensity to the spotlight on Ten Hag’s position, and on Friday United announced that Jason Wilcox had left Southampton with immediate effect to become their new technical director.
Ten Hag said he was looking forward to working very closely with the former winger, adding: “We have to form a partnership, it’s very important. We are a little behind in the process so we have to catch up, so we will go and speed up the process.
“I met him yesterday for the first time, we had some talks. This week we will not have so much time but from Monday on we will go forward.
“Of course I know his profile, I know his methods in youth, a lot of experience there and then one year at Southampton. I know his background so I am looking forward to our partnership.”
United’s injury crisis continued at Wembley, with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes all picking up problems.
McTominay and Rashford are both doubtful for Wednesday but Ten Hag expects Garnacho and Fernandes to be able to play.
PGMOL to allow Nottingham Forest to hear VAR audio of rejected penalty claims
Nottingham Forest will be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to three penalty claims in their match against Everton last Sunday.
Forest called on Monday for the audio between Stuart Attwell and on-field official Anthony Taylor to be released publicly.
Sources close to referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.
The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken on whether this audio would also feature in the next edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, which will air next Tuesday evening.
The audio related to a wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham earlier this season was released publicly, but in that instance there had been a serious communication error so the matter was treated differently.
Forest have been contacted by PA regarding the offer to release the audio.
The club have risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to the three rejected penalty appeals.
The club said in a statement on Sunday they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan” but that PGMOL did not change the appointment.
The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement, adding it was “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.
The league said it was investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules, with regulations B.15 and B.16 governing the requirement on clubs and their officials to behave with utmost good faith.
Forest went on to release a further statement on Monday evening calling for the rules around referees’ allegiances to be updated to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”.
Referees do already declare allegiances and will not be assigned that team’s matches, or certain other fixtures such as those involving direct local rivals of that club. For instance, Michael Oliver has spoken in the past about he cannot referee Newcastle games because he is a fan.
Other factors that determine appointments include which teams an official’s immediate family members support, as well as performance and the number of times they have officiated a particular team’s matches.
PGMOL takes all of that into account and endeavours to make the best appointments possible when allocating six officials to each Premier League fixture from a pool of 70 to 75, while also fulfilling Championship refereeing appointments.
Ultimately, it has confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of its officials.
No club is believed to have ever questioned the process in the manner Forest have since the birth of the Premier League 32 years ago, and nor have the club raised any concerns in relation to the previous occasions when Attwell has been the VAR at their matches this season.
English officials are clearly well thought of by UEFA, with eight included in the list for Euro 2024 this summer.
Taylor will lead one of two English referee teams at Euro 2024, with Oliver leading the other. Attwell and David Coote have been named as VARs.
Three Forest staff – manager Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg – have been asked by the FA for observations on the comments they made about the officiating at Goodison Park.
Championship run-in: Where the top four stand in race for automatic promotion
The battle for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship continues to intensify as Leeds moved into the top-two with a nail-biting win over Middlesbrough on Monday.
Leaders Leicester sit just two points ahead of third-placed Ipswich and the Foxes take on Southampton tonight, where defeat for fourth-placed Saints would all but end their automatic hopes.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the remaining weeks of an increasingly tense Championship run-in.
Leicester (1st, played 43, 91 points, +42 goal difference)Run-in: Southampton (h), Preston (a), Blackburn (h).
Once seemingly certain to return to the top flight after a single season in the second tier – Enzo Maresca’s side were 17 points clear of Leeds – Leicester have suffered a crisis of confidence just at the wrong time.
A 2-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough on February 17 launched a run of 10 league games culminating in a 1-0 reverse at Plymouth which saw them lose six times and collect just 10 of the 30 points available.
However, a 2-1 victory over play-off chasing West Brom took them back to the top of the table and with two of their last three fixtures at the King Power Stadium, they will hope they can make home advantage count.
Leeds (2nd, played 44, 90 points, +43 goal difference)Run-in: QPR (a), Southampton (h).
As with Leicester, Leeds have suffered a wobble at the most inopportune moment.
A 2-1 defeat at Coventry on April 6 was their first in the league since the turn of the year and, having seen Sunderland leave Elland Road with a point three days later, Daniel Farke’s men lost on home soil for the first time this season last Saturday when Sammie Szmodics fired Blackburn to victory in West Yorkshire.
But they came out on the right end of a seven-goal thriller in Teesside on Monday, claiming a 4-3 win over Middlesbrough that Farke will hope can be a springboard for their final two fixtures.
Ipswich (3rd, played 43, 89 points, +32 goal difference)Run-in: Hull (a), Coventry (a), Huddersfield (h).
Ipswich’s unlikely tilt at back-to-back promotions has hit the buffers in recent weeks after a remarkable run of nine wins in 10 Championship outings was brought to an end by derby rivals Norwich.
A 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road on April 6 has been followed by home draws with Watford and Middlesbrough and Town must rediscover the form which earned manager Kieran McKenna the accolade of Championship Manager of the Season on Sunday evening if they are to reach the top flight.
However, all three of their remaining opponents still have something to play for, with Hull and Coventry on the fringes of the play-off race and Huddersfield battling desperately to avoid the drop.
Southampton (played 43, 84 points, +29 goal difference)Run-in: Leicester (a), Stoke (h), Leeds (a).
Southampton’s bad patch arrived in February, when they lost to Bristol City, Hull and Millwall either side of a 2-0 success at West Brom in the space of 12 days.
A 3-0 win over Preston a week ago was their third in succession but despite taking the lead at Cardiff on Saturday, the Bluebirds claimed a last-gasp victory and Saints are now six points adrift of the top two.
How they fare against Leicester may go a long way to deciding their fate, while a visit to Leeds on the final day of the season promises to be a must-watch.
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