Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool's long-term injured are still "quite a way" from a return to action - as he prepares to again be without Nat Phillips this weekend.
Virgil van Dijk, out since October due to cruciate ligament damage, sparked debate over whether he could be back before the end of the season after posting a video on Thursday of him running outside at the Reds' training facility in Kirkby.
It came a day after Joel Matip was spotted working individually on the pitch for the first time having injured ankle ligaments in January, with Joe Gomez and Jordan Henderson also in rehabilitation after knee and groin problems respectively.
But Klopp has played down suggestions Van Dijk is close to ending his spell on the sidelines, along with remainder of the injured quartet.
“I don’t have enough English words to describe the same thing more often," said the Reds boss, speaking on Friday ahead of Sunday's Premier League trip to Manchester United.
"Yes, he is running - Hendo is running, Joe is running, Joel is running.
"That’s all good; imagine they wouldn’t be able to run in the moment, that would be really bad.
“They are running and in rehab it always starts with straight-line running; I’m not sure if you saw Virg running a lot of curves or just straight, so there are a lot of things to come.
"You go through a lot of steps until you are finally ready to join team training, especially with long-term injuries - there are a lot of steps to go and they are all quite a way from that.
“It means nobody told me, ‘Fasten your seatbelt, make yourself ready, the boys will be in team training next week.' No, nothing changed really, but they are in a good way.”
Meanwhile, Phillips has missed Liverpool's last two games with a hamstring issue and was absent from training in midweek.
And Klopp has hinted the centre-back remains ruled out for the United clash, with Fabinho on standby to again partner Ozan Kabak in the heart of defence.
Asked if there were any injury updates ahead of the game, Klopp said: "No, no. All the same in this moment."
