
Arne Slot has ruled out Curtis Jones for Saturday's visit from Ipswich Town
Slot says he is hopeful the midfielder can be in contention to travel to PSV Eindhoven next week.
Jones was withdrawn at half time of Tuesday's 2-1 win over Lille and Slot confirmed that the midfielder won't be cleared for a return when Kieran McKenna's side visit Anfield
Slot said he is "not predicting months" when asked about the timescale of the absence of Jones
Slot:
"Yeah he went off during half time which is mostly not a good sign and it wasn't because he won't be available for the game tomorrow,"
"The rest we have to see how long it will take. I am not expecting months, of course.
“Well not 'of course' but I am not predicting months, but let's see if he can play against PSV or Bournemouth."
Slot also provided an update on Ibrahima Konate, who sat out Tuesday's win after revealing on Monday that he has played with the aid of painkillers
The Reds boss admitted the France international had been persevering through the pain barrier in the last three weeks
Slot added:
"You have seen how we managed that [injury]. I think we skipped him twice, and Jarell played against Lille and Accrington Stanley.
“So that is a bit because he has some pain in his knee, we don't exaggerate it, but he feels it a bit.”
“It's safe for him to play but it's the load we're aware of and if a player is out for five or six weeks then playing every three days is, in our opinion, a certain risk.
“So we always try to manage that and he now comes to a moment where he can now play three times a week.
"He is already very good so he's a centre-back that without him even touching it, he is impressive, so strong and tall.
“I think one of the things he can improve in my opinion at least is his play with the ball, bringing it out from the back.
"I would not say he is poor at that but he can improve and he can go to another level there and he works really hard to improve that and I have already seen improvements there.
“But defensively he is of the highest standard. He is fast, strong, wins duels in the air and over the ground.
“He can cover for team-mates if needed, good in one-v-one with space at his back, so not a lot he can improve defensively.
"But bringing it out from the back, which is not just his single job, it's also his team-mates he needs for that but that is something we work on that a lot.
“And we keep working on that. Not only him but the others as well.
"For all the possession we have we would like to create more chances than we are doing now and thatt starts from bringing it out."
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