Jurgen Klopp insists he won't be turning to the transfer window to help solve a defensive injury problem in his Liverpool squad.
Joel Matip hasn't featured since the 1-1 draw with Manchester United in October and is likely to miss the next two weeks of action, minimum, after being excluded from the Reds' 23-man Club World Cup squad in Qatar.
Dejan Lovren pulled up midway through Saturday's 3-0 win over Bournemouth to leave Klopp with just Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez as the only two fit senior centre-halves.
Defensive midfielder Fabinho, who operated occasionally as a centre-back last term, is also out for the best part of the next two months with ankle ligament damage.
Liverpool injury latest as Jurgen Klopp offers updates on Adam Lallana, Fabinho and Joel Matip
However, Lovren came through a light training session unscathed on Monday afternoon before flying out to Austria ahead of the Champions League clash with Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday night.
And Klopp insists the defensive injury list won't force his hand in the window next month, although the Liverpool manager did concede the situation was far from ideal.
He said: "How can you be short of centre halves when you have four centre halves plus Fabinho? Only Fabinho is injured, Matip is injured and Dejan Lovren had a problem, yes.
“We will not sign a centre half because of injuries - that is the world outside who thinks we are short and we have to do it - but afterwards we would have six centre halves and that wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
“And you need quality. You can’t have just somebody [for the sake of it] - I am somebody, I am tall, not quick, but I look like a centre half at least.
“Yes I am absolutely concerned [about injuries], but Lovren is not injured. It was a little bit of cramp, and the right moment to take him off, but it is cool, everybody is fine.
“We spoke about squad depth, but we had 16 adult players against Everton, 14 adult players against Bournemouth - it’s not that we think we have no clue how to make a squad at the moment.
"How can I tell the boys they are not involved in the squad? We have no problem, there is nobody there I have to explain it to. But yes it is all good, but not perfect."
