Klopp Rules Out Henderson and Sturridge

When Jordan Henderson limped off the pitch against Sunderland, there were fears that the Liverpool captain could be set for another extended spell on the sidelines. But while he club may not have a firm timeline for when he will return, Jürgen Klopp says it’s good news for Henderson.

"We have to wait," said the Liverpool manager. "At the moment there is blood around the heel. What happened with the tendon is painful and we can’t rush it, but it’s good and when the blood is out of the heel it’s solved. We don’t really know a time. We have to wait each hour, minute, day. His foot is good. It’s painful but it’s good."

Henderson began to suffer chronic pain in his heel in April, baffling Liverpool’s medical staff. It turned out the midfielder had suffered a condition known as plantar fasciitis, which kept him out for much of the autumn as it became worse. Most worryingly, there was no treatment for the condition—at best there was pain management.

Pain management and waiting for the plantar fasciitis to burst. The condition may return in time, but at least in the short term, Henderson’s heel pain should be gone once the blood drains. That’s good news for the captain, even if he’ll miss a few more games along the way. For Daniel Sturridge, meanwhile, it’s more of the same.

"Daniel has had some little problems," said Klopp when asked about the fitness of his injury-prone star striker. "When he’s had a row of training sessions I can maybe pick him, but right now he is not available. It would be easy for me to say come on then, let’s try, we don’t score enough goals. But we have to be patient with him."

Klopp went on to point out that due to injuries, Sturridge hadn’t had a full pre-season since 2011, and that has meant that every time he returns to action there is a greater risk of suffering further knocks and strains than a player who was fully match fit. As such, the manager has no intention on rushing Sturridge back this time.

Instead, the striker is being put through his own personal pre-season in the hopes that when he does return from injury this time around, his body will be ready for the wear and tear of professional football. Given his lengthy and increasingly problematic injury record, it seems the only reasonable course for the club to take.