Dejan Lovren has revealed how Mohamed Salah played through the pain barrier for Liverpool last season.
Salah remains hopeful of featuring for Egypt at this summer’s World Cup despite suffering a shoulder injury in last month’s Champions League final.
Despite the setback, the forward will head to Russia on the back of a prolific debut campaign at Anfield where he scored 44 goals and provided 16 assists.
Speaking after Croatia’s friendly defeat to Brazil at Anfield, Lovren has hailed Salah’s ability to perform at the highest level even when not at peak fitness.
He said: “Mo is a type of player who wants to play even when he feels a little bit of pain.
“He showed this season in a couple of games, people didn’t know, and at the end he scored a hat-trick or whatever!
“Of course it’s disappointing for him that he couldn’t finish the game in Kiev.
“But he’s positive and hopefully he can move on and play for the national team.”
Asked about Salah’s World Cup prospects, Lovren added: “I really didn’t talk to him [about it] a lot.
“Hopefully he can be fit for the World Cup because I know it means a lot to him to play for his national team. I’m positive.
“I have some news but I will keep it to myself!”