Arne Slot makes 'uneasy' Mohamed Salah admission over Liverpool axe

Salah and Slot

Arne Slot admits he will find it "uneasy" if he has to bench Mohamed Salah again this season - but would feel the same about dropping any Liverpool player.

Salah returned for the Reds this week when playing the full 90 minutes of the Champions League win at Marseille on Wednesday having missed the previous seven games while on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt.

It was the 33-year-old's first Liverpool start since late November, with an initial spell on the bench prompting a controversial outburst after being unused for the 3-3 draw at Leeds United in early December

the forward claimed he was being made a scapegoat for the Reds' poor autumn form and had no relationship with Slot.

Salah was subsequently left out of the squad for the Champions League win at Inter before playing the majority of the Premier Leaguevictory against Brighton several days later having held clear-the-air talks with the Liverpool head coach and apologised to the squad.

And while the winger is likely to keep his place for Saturday's Premier League clash at Bournemouth, Slot accepts he will not find it straightforward should the time come to again bench the Egyptian.

"I always find it uneasy if I leave a player out and even more a player that has meant a lot for this club," said the Reds boss.

"You can work with a player for a long time and you have had success with them, but part of my job is making the decision that I think is the best for the team.

"But that is always an uneasy decision. Not only with Mo but every single player I leave out because of the work they put in. Their quality is enough to play, so it is always uneasy not to play players."

Liverpool were unbeaten for the 12 games in which Salah was either benched or absent, a run that was extended with the 3-0 triumph in the south of France.

And when asked if Salah now has more

understanding of the situation and the possibility of again being rotated from the starting line-up, Slot admitted he doesn't expect any player to be happy at not featuring.

"I think every player knows that a manager needs to make decisions and I think every player 99 out of 100 times is disagreeing with the manager if he doesn’t play," said the Dutchman.

"It should be like that because if you don’t have confidence in yourself then it is hard to play in front of 60,000 people. These players should have confidence that 'I am good enough to play and I should play'.

"I am not talking solely about Mo, but everyone now. I think it is always hard for any player who is left out because they want to help and show they are able to help the team.

"Mo is definitely one of them. He is not a player who says 'leave me out for five times in a row' - everyone has seen that. But everyone is the same in that regard."

With Ibrahima Konate expected to remain absent on compassionate leave after the death of his father, Joe Gomez is poised to continue at centre-back alongside Virgil van Dijk at the Vitality Stadium.

Cody Gakpo, who came off the bench to score in Marseille, and Curtis Jones will both be pressing for a start, but Federico Chiesa is a doubt after picking up an injury during the warm-up in midweek. Long-term injury absentees Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni remain out.

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