Arne Slot says he will speak to Trent Alexander-Arnold before deciding whether the Liverpool defender will be involved against Brighton.
The Premier League champions head to the Amex Stadium on Monday night for their penultimate fixture of the campaign.
However, Alexander-Arnold’s inclusion isn’t necessarily guaranteed after being booed by some sections of the Anfield crowd as he came on against Arsenal last weekend.
In response to the reaction during the 2-2 draw with the Gunners, Slot suggested he could leave Alexander-Arnold out of Liverpool’s final two matches of the season if his involvement becomes a distraction.
He said: “The thing I consider is I want to win a game of football and if we think we can win with Trent, I owe it to his team-mates and to the fans, because they (Liverpool) hired me to win as many games of football as possible.
“And if I think there's a better chance of winning with Trent, then I will (pick him).
“If I think it's a distraction or whatever can happen for us not to play a good game of football, then I might, might, might make another decision.
“But I think Trent showed today why I brought him in because he was very close with a few fantastic crosses for us to win the game."
Slot addressed the situation during the pre-match conference on Friday, stating he hadn’t yet made up his mind with regards to picking Alexander-Arnold or not against Brighton.
“I haven't spoken to him yet,” the Dutchman told reporters. “This is the first day we come back together. We train today, tomorrow and Sunday to be well prepared for Monday.
“It’s quite early for me to say what the team will look like and what the squad will look like for Monday.”
Slot also added that he wants to "draw a line under" the whole situation.
“I was already happy that nobody asked about it, I thought we could leave this behind," he said.
“Last week people talked about it to me, then of course we had the reaction from our fans in the stadium which was different, positive and negative, then all the pundits talked about it and the whole country talked about it.
“Now I think it’s time to draw a line under that. Let’s focus on the fact that we’ve won the league and to enjoy the upcoming week with that feeling and not talk and be distracted that much about Trent’s situation.”
