Jürgen Klopp addressed the media ahead of Liverpool's final Premier League fixture of the season at a press conference at Melwood on Friday.
Klopp spoke ahead of this Sunday's final league meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield - a game from which the Reds need a point to secure a top-four finish.
The Reds boss provided a fitness update on Adam Lallana and Emre Can, whilst bemoaning the loss of Joe Gomez ahead of a crucial couple of fixtures for Klopp's side.
On Adam Lallana and his possible involvement this weekend...
Adam trains normally since around about a week or so. Yesterday [he trained] normally. It's a long time with no football but Adam is Adam, so it looks quite OK, to be honest. The perfect thing now would be to start with minutes; we'll see if we have the opportunity to do that. But [he is] as fit as possible, I would say.
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On Emre Can...
[There is] nothing new on both parts – still treatment and rehab. If we would have agreed anything, you would have known that. It's like it was before.
On Joe Gomez...
That's absolutely something nobody needs. We spoke about it a few times already, it's like he sacrificed himself a little bit but we didn't know [at the time]. It happened early in the Stoke game. It was not his best game obviously, but after the game the explanation came pretty soon. He got the injury early in the game and carried on and wanted to help the team.
I told him already, it was not the smartest decision in his life but it was a really brave decision. Now he is obviously out, I'm not sure if he didn't play on [it wouldn't have been as bad] - nobody told me that would have helped massively. It was what it was and now he is out for the rest of the season, which is really hard for us and for him - and exactly the same for the World Cup.
It's nothing you want, but something you have to accept and he has to accept. He is good in that. He is here and is doing his rehab; it's already done, now he can count the days down until when he is back, but it is not early enough for the World Cup.
On the importance of momentum ahead of this weekend's fixture...
Momentum, I'm not sure, it's about two weeks in between. A week was exactly what we needed so far, a few players [had] some problems and they needed time to recover from that. We still have two days - today and tomorrow - to use the time, but of course it should help us, there's no doubt about that. Actually, it would have been quite difficult to play during the week.
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On the top four battle going to the final day...
It's still exciting. [There are] three games at the weekend, maybe four, where [teams are] going for big things and we are part of that. You cannot avoid that in the moment when it's already done and think, 'It would be nice [to be qualified]'. Frustration makes no sense, I'm not frustrated about that. I have a few moments where I'm frustrated about a few things but that's long ago and now we have the chance to play against Brighton. I saw the last two or three games and Brighton are just a good team, playing completely without pressure, so that's the situation. We have to take it like it is and make the best of it, like it always is.
Gini Wijnaldum opened the goalscoring at Anfield on the final day of last season as the Reds needed a win against Middlesbrough to seal Champions League football / Image: Getty
On being wary of a possible upset...
We need to be completely focused on that game. Yesterday, our LFC awards, a lot of people wished me luck for the [Champions League final] on May 26 and maybe two or three people said, 'Good luck on Sunday'. Again, next challenge, that's it. The boys face so many challenges, we face so many challenges, and we need to show it again. It's the last game of the Premier League season so it's a big one
I think there were plenty of moments where everybody could be really happy, proud, whatever of this team, being a supporter of this club. [There have been] fantastic seconds, minutes, hours around the team and, on Sunday, we have to deliver again - all of us. I asked a few times but it's not a farewell thing on Sunday, it's a proper competition against a strong football team. Having no pressure can be quite positive, actually. That's the situation we face. A lot of things can happen in football but we will be there as well, we will have 11 players and we will try everything to make sure that next year we play in the Champions League again.
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On why the Reds have remained unbeaten at Anfield in the Premier League this season...
Character, mentality, togetherness. We really enjoy working together, the boys enjoy working together, the mood in the dressing room. Everything is how it should be. It's so far not the most successful in the history of football but it's quite successful in a difficult league with wonderful football involved - that's cool, really cool. It's all about the boys, how they pick up information, how they turn it into a performance, how they use the things we do in training and how they enjoy the work together. On the pitch, the plan is - at least most of the time - really clear and they really believe in that and try to deliver again. It's only another big step to go, that's all.
