Liverpool will welcome back Ibrahima Konate for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Galatasaray, though Joe Gomez remains a doubt for the match at Anfield, says Arne Slot.
Konate sat out the 1-1 draw with Tottenham at the weekend after a hamstring issue, and while he was replaced by Joe Gomez, the England defender is now a doubt for the visit of Galatasaray after missing training this week.
“Joe [Gomez] we will decide tomorrow. He wasn't ready to train today. He had too many issues after the last game, although he had the issues after Galatasaray,” explained Slot.
“[It] wasn't the plan to play against Tottenham but Ibou [Konate] felt his hamstring and [we] didn't want to risk him. He is going to try tomorrow, Joe,” added the Dutchman.
Slot clarified that Konate is “okay now and back to 100 per cent”, adding: “He is declared completely fit and doesn't feel any discomfort. He is ready to start and hopefully he can play 90 minutes or even longer.”
And while the return of Konate is a welcome boost for the club, Slot will have to wait longer before he is able to pick Alexander Isak, though the striker has made a return to training.
“The fact you see Alex on the pitch shows he is getting closer,” explained Slot. “He won't be available Saturday either.”
When probed as to whether he had an idea of a date for Isak’s return, Slot said: “No timescale. If you have done months on the individual session it's quite a step up to train with the team and then it's a step up to play in Premier League and Champions League.”
Isak suffered a broken leg in the 2-1 win against Tottenham before Christmas, but the 26-year-old has now made a return to training and was spotted training alone ahead of the visit of Galatasaray.
However, Slot recently declared that he doesn’t expect the Sweden striker to be fit for his national team’s World Cup qualifiers this month, though he is reportedly on track to make a return to first-team action after the international break, with an initial target being the FA Cup match against Manchester City on 4 April.
