Dejan Lovren is facing several weeks on the sidelines for Liverpool.
Lovren has yet to take part in a training session with the Reds following his return from Croatia’s World Cup final defeat just four weeks ago.
The defender told media in his homeland that Anfield officials are ‘not happy’ about his stomach muscle injury, for which he will see a specialist in Holland.
But Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool are taking precautions over Lovren’s fitness due to problems which arose at the end of last season.
“He is not fit. Let me say it like this, last year he already had a few problems with that but he could obviously play – and played really good,” said Klopp.
“Recovery days were always enough then it was not a problem and he was in the next session again.
“We did not train a lot in the end of the season, of course, because we were more or less constantly playing, but he played constantly.
“Now in the World Cup, [playing] three times [for] 120 minutes it got a bit worse, but I am pretty sure it will settle in the next one, two or three weeks.
“In that time he can probably for sure train already, but not the full programme, so that will then take time.
“In the end, it is serious but not that serious, so it’s not that we need to be afraid that it will take him until whenever.
“In the moment he is not available, that’s true.”