Jurgen Klopp admits it was a "mistake" to play Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Liverpool's Under-23s clash against Derby County.
Oxlade-Chamberlain made his return to action earlier this month as the Reds youngsters beat their opponents 3-1.
He was withdrawn shortly before half-time and, while the England midfielder came through the exercise unscathed, Klopp believes the appearance caused an unwarranted amount of attention.
“One of the biggest mistakes was being exciting at Ox being back," the Liverpool boss said ahead of his side's clash against Tottenham on Sunday.
“That put the focus on the Derby U23s game. Now we keep him in the shadow, he will train and when he’s back properly I will speak about him then.”
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Oxlade-Chamberlain last featured for the first team in April 2018 when he suffered a ruptured ACL against Roma in the Champions League semi-final.
But there is some positive news on the injury front, with Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Xherdan Shaqiri all returning to the fold.
“We will see how they react,” Klopp added. “They needed treatment and rehab.
“Joe was back yesterday after 15 weeks. What a long time! But he looked really good.
“He is adapting back to football training after thousands of rehab sessions. They should be okay and train again today.”
