Klopp: Henderson and Sturridge looking good in pre-season

Both featured in each of the Reds’ local friendlies before the squad departed for their current base in Hong Kong and the Premier League Asia Trophy.

Klopp spoke to media at a press conference today to preview the team’s opening match of the tournament, against Crystal Palace on Wednesday, and was asked how Henderson and Sturridge are faring so far this summer.

“He is ready and he needs games. He needs rhythm, because that’s obviously what he missed most in the last few months. It was a long time we had to play without him,” the manager said of the skipper.

“You could see in the first two games he can run and has no pain, that’s very good. He is getting in a physically better shape. It’s a very important pre-season for him.

“It’s not exactly the same shape or rhythm like it was before he got injured. But that’s always the same for players, so the best thing to do is play as often as possible and train as often as possible.

“Then, as it was before, he’s an outstanding and important player for us. It’s very good for him that we have another two, three, four weeks until we are really going for it, but now give him as many minutes as possible and as many minutes as makes sense for him – because we should not overload.”

On Sturridge, meanwhile, Klopp said: “Daniel could be part of the full pre-season so far. That’s very important – not just for him but also for him. [He is] looking good.

“It’s of course quite intense. Especially in England, what we did was intense and all the games we played, we played out of full training. He was part of pretty much each session, it’s good.

“It’s the best condition since I’ve been here. I came in October 2015 and I think Daniel was injured. Last pre-season was after a tournament and all that stuff, a short break. This year he has had a proper break and now is in good physical shape, absolutely.”