Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that full-back Nathaniel Clyne has a "big chance" of returning in time for Saturday's Premier League clash with Swansea City.
Clyne missed Sunday's 1-1 draw with Manchester United due to a rib injury, which is also expected to keep him out of Wednesday night's FA Cup third-round replay against Plymouth Argyle.
However, Klopp is confident that the 25-year-old will have recovered by the weekend, and also revealed that Lucas Leiva is almost available too following a knee injury.
"It's getting better. With Nathaniel, it was a muscle between the ribs. Everybody who has ever bruised their ribs knows OK, sometimes you think it's better broken. It's really painful, but now we know after a scan that there is nothing else and each day helps him to settle and get back on the pitch, if you want," he told reporters.
"So we give him for sure, we have to, two or three more days and then hopefully he can start running and all that stuff. He is, how everyone can imagine - he made nearly all the games since I'm in and before, probably, [he's] one of the hardest we have so the first second when it's possible he's out there. He has a big chance, I think, for Swansea.
"It's similar to Lucas. His knee was swollen and that's never a good sign, but in this case it was on the better side of the bad news. Again it's only a bruise but then you have to wait until the swelling is away and wait for if something is coming back and all that stuff, and that's what we did. He's very positive, so maybe he can be on the pitch today, I'm not sure, we will see. If [he is], we will try to push it as hard as we can."
Liverpool are still looking for their first victory of 2017 having failed to win any of their first four games of a calendar year for the first time since 1993.
Barney Corkhill
