A minor knock to the knee caused the goalkeeper to miss Liverpool’s opening friendlies of the summer - 30-minute matches against Wacker Innsbruck and VfB Stuttgart - in Austria on Tuesday.
However, he feels ready to play when the Reds meet Bundesliga outfit Mainz on Friday evening.
Kelleher told Liverpoolfc.com: “I just had a slight little knock on my knee but it’s nothing serious so I’m back in now and ready to go. Yeah, I am [fit to play against Mainz].”
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We caught up with Kelleher at the team hotel in Salzburg immediately after the squad’s Thursday morning training session.
Read on for the rest of the interview.
Caoimhin, we’re now 11 days into the pre-season training camp here in Austria. How have you found it so far?
It’s been really good. We’ve had some good, solid training sessions, just getting to know everyone again, getting back into it, catching up with everyone – it’s been really good. We’ve got some good work in, double sessions most days so we’ve been able to get a lot of work in so it’s been good.
Do you feel like you’re properly getting into the swing of things now in terms of your sharpness and fitness?
Yeah, I think it’s definitely coming back. The first few days you’re just trying to get back into it and find your feet again. I think, like you say, we’re 11 days in now so we’re finding our feet now.
Have you been working on anything specific here with John Achterberg and Jack Robinson?
I think it’s just been getting back to basics, really. Like you say, it’s just [about] trying to get that sharpness back so we’ve been doing drills for everything, really, trying to get everything back to the way it was before the season ended, trying to get that sharpness back and the decision-making.
With Alisson Becker away after the Copa America, you’re the senior member of the goalkeeping group here in terms of the pecking order. That’s quite a new experience for you, but is it one you’re enjoying?
Yeah, I’m enjoying it. It’s a new challenge for me, it’s a bit more responsibility on myself and yeah, I’m enjoying it. I’m just taking it as it comes, really.
Friday’s game against Mainz will be 90 minutes long, of course, and the manager thinks it will be a step up in terms of intensity. Is that something you agree with as players?
Yeah, I think so. The 30-minute games were good but I think tomorrow night will be the first test with the 90 minutes and a step up in intensity as well. So it’ll be good for us and it’ll be good to get the season going.
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We watched training here on Wednesday and you and the other ‘keepers were pulling off some incredible saves. What are those attacking and shooting drills like to face? Hard work, I’d guess…
I quite enjoy it to be fair! It’s a good challenge. There’s a lot of good finishers in the team so I’ll try to keep as many out as I can. It’s a good challenge and it’s fun.
Virgil van Dijk declared you Man of the Match at the end of the session too – is it the best kind of practice you can have? Facing finishers of the quality we have in the squad here?
Yeah, absolutely. I think it most replicates the game as well and there are some of the best finishers in the world probably, so it’s a great challenge for me and it keeps me sharp.