“That was called off (last week) but we had some games at Melwood and he played 45 minutes against our reserves last week.
“We are trying to improve him as quick as we can.
“But when you have a player who is not fit, he is always going to need time to settle in to a game; if the game is tight and he makes mistakes, then you have a problem.
“We want to protect the player but, at the same time, we want to keep winning games; he understands that he needs to be a little bit fitter before he can play.”
Meanwhile, two more of Liverpool’s Premier League fixtures have been altered to accommodate Sky Sports coverage.
The Anfield derby against Everton on Saturday, February 6, will now kick off at 12.45pm, while the Arsenal game has been moved to Wednesday, February 10 and will now kick off at 7.45pm.
