Konstantinos Tsimikas has returned to full training and offers Jurgen Klopp another solution to Liverpool's centre-half problem.
The German is without leading light Virgil van Dijk after he was injured in the Merseyside derby.
There are fears that the Dutchman could miss the entire season leaving the Reds looking for a replacement.
Until we get to January Klopp will have to utilise the players he already has at his disposal - and one of those could be Andy Robertson.
The Scot has been hugely impressive at left-back but the return of Tsimikas could allow Robertson to move inside.
Klopp has previously mentioned the former Hull man as an option at the heart of the back four.
He said: “We still have other options like Hendo, Gini, or James Milner or Andy Robertson can all play centre half as well.
"They are not smaller than Mascherano and he played it pretty well in that position.”
Tsimikas' only competitive outing for the Reds has been in the EFL Cup with injury hindering his progress, but he is in contention to play against Atalanta on Tuesday night.
23-year-old Nathaniel Phillips made his first Premier League start for Liverpool against West Ham on Saturday as he partnered Joe Gomez.
Rhys Williams is another option for Klopp while Joel Matip has also recovered from injury.
The German boss has already praised Tuesday night's opponents, who made the last eight of the Champions League last term.
He said: "They obviously have in the team a really good atmosphere in general, a good mood and they are a proper fighting unit. So I was not surprised last year.
"Of course, I didn’t know too much about Atalanta before the [last] season started but I knew about the role they played in Italy, which was the qualification for the Champions League.
“[They are] Difficult to play against, very special in their approach, slightly similar to Leeds, let me say like this, organisation-wise and these kind of things.
“So it will be a tough one.“
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