Andy Robertson will travel to Craven Cottage for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final decider vs. Fulham, while there is good news on four others.
The Reds head Craven Cottage on Wednesday night, having taken a 2-1 lead from the Anfield opener.
They do so with their injury situation easing, with assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders confirming that Robertson will travel with the squad after shoulder surgery, while Curtis Jones has avoided a hamstring injury.
“A big, big advantage to have him back. We were waiting for a long time – he’s one of our captains,” Lijnders told the club’s official website of Robertson’s return.
“I just met him in the canteen and he said, ‘Pep, I have my tracksuit with me!’. So he’s pushing himself into the squad, so that’s good.
“He will travel.”
Robertson, though, will not start and his role will be limited, with Lijnders adding: “He’s fit in terms of sports science. Now he has to get fit with proper team training.”
There are “no issues” when it comes to Jones, who “made the right decision” to flag tension in his left hamstring during Sunday’s 4-0 win at Bournemouth.
Lijnders also provided an update on the fitness of Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee), Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring) and Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone), though none will be involved at Fulham.
“Trent is progressing well through his rehab, working hard – how he is as a guy, knowing how important the next weeks are,” the Dutchman said.
“But he will back in the end of the week for team training, so hopefully he will be available for the FA Cup.”
On Szoboszlai he explained: “He is ready but tomorrow comes too early for him, so he will be ready for the weekend if nothing goes wrong.”
Both Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai could be expected to be named on the bench for the visit of Norwich on Sunday, building their minutes before Chelsea arrive at Anfield next Wednesday night.
Tsimikas’ recovery is a long-term process, but the Greek should be expected to rejoin full training in mid-February after suffering a broken collarbone.
“Kostas is now four weeks after surgery, so he needs probably two more weeks,” Lijnders said.
“Because we need to make sure that the bone is strong and the bone is healed before he goes into first-team training.”
After having 10 or more players out for the last three games, Liverpool’s lengthy injury list does finally appear to be easing and should look much better in a week’s time.
