Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is a doubt for Sunday's Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur with the club not willing to risk aggravating the midfielder's muscle injury, manager Jurgen Klopp said.
England international Lallana sustained a serious thigh injury in pre-season and has struggled for fitness, featuring only seven times for the club in all competitions this season.
The latest setback has kept Lallana out of Liverpool's last two matches, against West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup and Huddersfield Town in the league.
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"It's really unlucky," Klopp told the club's website. "It was a serious injury in the summer. Because of Adam's quality in training, it looks immediately like we can put him in, but physical-wise he's not fit.
"The two things that happened after his big injury were in the 10 or 15 minutes after he came on. From nil to 100 in a second, and that's maybe what caused the problem.
"We really tried to be sensible with it, to do the right thing. But it didn't work, twice. It's really not a big thing, three games is like not being injured.
Klopp did not completely rule out Lallana's participation against fifth-placed Tottenham though.
"He's maybe available for Tottenham, and if not then he'll have missed three games," Klopp said. "That's really OK but of course it's not cool. The body needs to adapt again to the intensity."
Liverpool are third in the league with 50 points from 25 games, 18 points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City.
