Jurgen Klopp admits excitement at the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was “one of the biggest mistakes” of his Liverpool tenure as he vowed to keep the midfielder in the shadows.
Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn't featured for the first team since suffering a serious knee injury in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Roma last April.
The 25-year-old made his long-awaited comeback for the under-23s at Derby County earlier this month only to suffer a muscle problem shortly before half-time.
Tottenham dealt triple injury blow ahead of Liverpool clash
And although Oxlade-Chamberlain is expected to return to full training next week , Klopp is determined to shift any focus and expectation away from the player.
“How can I say, one of the biggest mistakes I made here was being so excited at having Ox back,” said the Reds boss.
“Not because it is not exciting having Ox back because it is very exciting but the spotlight on the game at Derby in the U23 game was pretty rare.
“I am sure Ox felt a little bit after the last session with us and then he played the game and felt a little bit more.
“Now we keep him a little bit in the shadows; he is in a good moment and will train and when he is back and ready to be properly back then I will inform you.
“Until then I will not speak about Ox.”
Klopp is otherwise expected to have a full first-team squad available for the Premier League visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Joe Gomez is in full training after being sidelined since December with a fractured leg while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Xherdan Shaqiri are likely to be fit despite withdrawing from their respective national teams with injury during last week's international break.
“Yesterday they were all in training, for all three pretty much the first three sessions so we have to see how they react,” added Klopp on Friday.
“For Shaq and Trent not being involved in games in that period and anything else would have been crazy, they needed treatment and the rehab and all that stuff.
“Joe was back yesterday after 15 weeks – a long time – and looked really good. Of course it is the early stages and he is adapting to proper football training after thousands of rehab sessions.
“I've heard nothing so they should all be training today.”
