Klopp has a different defensive concern as Nathaniel Clyne
is a doubt for Stoke’s visit to Anfield.
The Croatian centre-half limped off with a hamstring
problem in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against
Mark Hughes’ men on 5 January, which the Merseysiders
won 1-0 at the Britannia.
Lovren rejoined his team-mates for a complete session on
Sunday, and could be on the bench for the reverse fixture on
Tuesday night. Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure are likely to
continue in the heart of defence.
"Dejan, after three weeks he trained yesterday, a complete
session with the team," Klopp said at Melwood.
"It was good, but after three weeks we have to see. If
nothing happens in the next 24 hours with Kolo or Mama
then I think we should do it again because Steven [Caulker]
can't play.
"That's not too good - you can buy players in January but if
you're still in the cup you can't use them!"
Right-back Clyne received a knock to his knee in training and
will be assessed late on to judge if he can play a part in the
second leg. Jon Flanagan, who made his competitive
comeback last week after being sidelined for 20 months, will
deputise if the England international cannot feature. Klopp,
however, prefers to ease the 23-year-old into action rather
than giving him a full run-out in what should be a testing
encounter.
"Clyney got a knock on the knee. He is a really tough boy, he
is always available, but I think today it will not work for
training," the manager added.
"We don't do too much, of course, but I think we should
leave him out of training. We have to see what will happen
overnight and make a decision but it's not too easy because
we have only Flanno.
"We all love Flanno but he had a long time [out] and 90
minutes or more is maybe not the best thing. But if there's
an opportunity we would like to try it.
"He is ready but of course it would be better if Clyney got
fit."
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