Liverpool have been praised for their handling of Naby Keita as his Africa Cup of Nations campaign hangs in the balance with Guinea.
Keita returned Melwood earlier this week to be assessed by the club's medical staff after suffering thigh and shin injuries in Guinea's 1-0 defeat to Nigeria on June 26.
The 24-year-old lasted just 71 minutes of the reverse last Wednesday after only being deemed fit enough for the bench in their opener against Madagascar.
After injuring himself last week, the all-action midfielder subsequently sat out Guinea's 2-0 win over Burundi on Sunday as Paul Put's side confirmed their place in the knockout phase of the Egypt tournament following the conclusion of the group stages.
With the knockout games starting on Friday, Head Coach Put is keen to see Keita back in Egypt in time to help his side as he offered an update on the situation surrounding Liverpool's £52million man.
"I hope that he will be back and join the team," Put told the BBC. "He was called by the medical staff at Liverpool .
"He wrote to me that he has to do one more examination at Liverpool and then they will make a decision, so I hope this decision will be positive.
"But also we have to know if the player is mentally good in the head because if you’re not good and you’re afraid to get injured that makes no player comfortable.
"So I will see now the reaction of the Liverpool side and also what is the feeling of Naby himself."
Keita has struggled with his fitness since suffering a groin adductor injury in the 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final on May 1.
It was initially thought Keita would be absent for two months but such was his desire to play at AFCON, the former RB Leipzig man worked his way back to something approaching full fitness in time.
However, Keita has been limited to just 99 minutes of Guinea's three group games and will now be carefully checked over before a decision is made on his next move.
Guinea coach Put praised Liverpool for allowing Keita every chance to stake his claim for a spot in his nation's AFCON squad.
"Everybody was hoping and expecting a lot from Naby and he couldn't play the [Champions League] final through injury but he had the chance to play in the Africa Cup, he wanted to show," he added.
"I had the feeling that Liverpool wanted Naby to play in the Africa Cup and he has colleagues at Liverpool in Salah and Mane, so it all counts.
"It was also pressure on him and I had the feeling he really wanted it because he had been working so hard when he came back from Liverpool. He was working so hard and forcing himself very hard.
"But the injury is still in the head and if you feel something you are not 100 per cent, so it makes no sense to play, especially these high intensity games, so I think we have to see and wait for the result."
