Joel Matip returned to Liverpool FC training ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s men playing hosts to basement side Burnley in what is a must-win game on Thursday evening for the Premier League holders.
According to reports from the Daily Mail, confirmation from the Liverpool FC gaffer was sealed on Matip’s return to first-team training after the defender had been unable to make the matchday squad for last weekend’s top-flight outing against Manchester United.
An abductor injury sustained by the 29-year-old Matip during Liverpool FC’s 1-1 draw at home to West Brom had kept the Cameroonian central defender on the sidelines for the following weeks as Jurgen Klopp was forced to draft skipper Jordan Henderson into a makeshift role at the back.
Matip’s injury had meant that the Anfield outfit fell short on experienced names in the centre-back position, with the first-choice pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez expected to be on the sidelines with season-ending layoffs.
Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams are two such fringe first-teamers in the ranks at Anfield that have often been called in to help carry an injury-hit Liverpool FC backline but Jordan Henderson’s slotting in at centre-back alongside Fabinho has been witnessed over the last couple of weeks.
