Liverpool handed positive update on Ibrahima Konate comeback

The Reds defender has been out for three weeks with a hamstring injury.

Jurgen Klopp has revealed Ibrahima Konate is close to returning to Liverpool’s squad.

The France international picked up a hamstring injury in the Reds’ defeat against Brighton in the FA Cup on January 29.

Having missed four games for Liverpool, Konate finally returned to team training this week. However, Klopp hints the centre-back might not be ready to start for Liverpool just yet.

“Ibou is near but only two sessions after a long injury,” the German boss told reporters on Friday.

“You can see when the boys come on they aren’t at their best yet (Jota and Firmino).

“We have to make changes and we will. It’s not that you come back from a long injury and it clicks back to normal, Virgil too.”

Liverpool claimed back to back wins against Everton and Newcastle and looked to have bounced back from their poor run of form in the Premier League. But a 5-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League exposed the Reds’ defensive issues. Klopp insists his side should regain their winning mentality to improve their performances.

“We need to find some consistency in the way we play,” the Liverpool boss added.

“It cannot be all about emotions… We just have to start believing in ourselves again and bring our quality on the pitch. There are a lot of good things but we are not stable yet. We have to work on that stability.”