Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has rejected suggestions he has rushed back players in recent weeks after Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Dominik Szoboszlai all aggravated injuries early in their returns.
Alexander-Arnold will miss the Carabao Cup final later this month because a knee problem recurred in last week's win over Burnley, Thiago's comeback after nine months lasted just 10 minutes, while Szoboszlai played just over an hour over two matches before succumbing to the hamstring problem which forced him to miss most of January.
Mohamed Salah returned to training this week after a month out with a hamstring problem sustained on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt but Klopp was dealt a late blow after goalkeeper Alisson Becker – who missed last weekend with flu – sustained a late hamstring injury in training and did not travel to London with the squad.
That means Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher should start again between the sticks, having made some crucial saves in the 3-1 win over Burnley.
"The last decision is always by the player."
"Mo is back in full training, that brings him automatically in contention of course," said Klopp, who has just won his 10th manager of the month award, ahead of Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Brentford.
"I have to clarify a bit: I was not really aware of it but I got the news that there was a discussion we might have forced Trent back. He had two setbacks and it is really unfortunate, no one wants that.
"[Since] I am here we never forced anyone back and never will do. But we work in a high-performance area and if you have the same injury you are fit after three days and another guy after four weeks.
"We always try to catch the earliest moment but when we catch that moment no one speaks about it, like with Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] recently and with Diogo [Jota]. That's a job we have to do.
"The last decision is always by the player but if you only listen to the player the player would play after two weeks and then it is a real problem.
"The boys were, in the moment when they played, fit but the [match] situation told us then differently because it happened again.
"We can never know if it would have happened anyway or whether it was something before. Very unlucky and unfortunate.
"It is not great but it says nothing about the quality of anyone. The world we are living in it is always immediately, 'medical department? I'm not sure about that', but it is nothing to do with that.
"We have to bring the boys as back as soon as possible but never sooner than they are ready from our point of view."
Klopp said the injuries to Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai [above] were "serious", with only the latter having a chance of making the cup final a week on Sunday.
"It is a super-intense period. People think now about the final but before the final we have Brentford and Luton and I didn't think a second about the final yet," he said.
"It's not, 'oh, he can't play the final'. That's one game but before that we have two games which is as bad as they cannot play.
"I think with Dominik it will be around that time and Trent maybe a week or two longer. I am not sure Dom has a chance for the final but maybe, and Trent will probably be after."
In addition to Salah's return, Klopp has Ibrahima Konate back from suspension, Joe Gomez is fit again and Conor Bradley has returned from compassionate leave following the death of his father.
"We believe in ourselves. We believe that we can get a result" - Thomas Frank
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has no doubts his side will be up for the "huge challenge" which awaits them against Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Klopp’s side swiftly bounced back from defeat at title rivals Arsenal by beating Burnley at home last weekend – which was a fifth victory in the last six league games.
Frank, though, feels Brentford can dig deep to produce the required performance as they look to build on their win at Wolves.
"We are facing the top-of-the-league team, a team in form in many ways. They have top players and a top manager," the Bees boss said.
"I think Liverpool are the best offensive team in the league, because they are very difficult to close down when they are on it.
"They play in behind, they play crosses, they combine, they do one-v-ones, they are good on set-pieces.
"They have created the most xG (expected goals), which is completely aligned to how they play offensively.
"It is going to be a huge challenge, but we are up for it and we believe in ourselves. We believe that we can get a result."
Brentford will have midfielder Frank Onyeka and forward Yoane Wissa available again following their return from international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham are still a "long way" from playing the football he wants after he fended off talk he could leave at the end of the season to replace Klopp at Liverpool.
Klopp announced last month he would depart Anfield at the conclusion of the campaign following nine years at the club.
Liverpool have reportedly placed Postecoglou on a shortlist of candidates to replace Klopp, with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso seemingly at the top of the pile, but the Spurs boss insists his focus is on finishing this season strongly.
"I may be on a shortlist? I don't think I want to say anything about that because I don’t think that’s ever going to enter my brain space for what is my priorities in life and my profession right now," Postecoglou said ahead of Saturday’s visit of Wolves.
"Well, I am (just getting started at Tottenham). Not just feel — I am. I’ve only been here seven months, so that’s self-explanatory.
"I’ve been at pains to say we’ve still got a long way to go in terms of the football we want to play, the team we want to be, the squad we want to have.
"We’ve had two positive windows, I think we’ve had a decent campaign so far, but we’ve got a long way to go.
"That’s the funny space when we talk about managers. When we’re not going well, then there’s questioning about whether we’re going to be here.
"When you’re potentially going OK, there’s still question about whether you’re going to be here. The reality of it is – most of it is out of our hands.
"I’m never worried or thought about that. I’ve got a history of 26 years of management where you can see pretty clearly what I do.
"I rely on that as my explanation as to where my thought processes are with all those kind of things.
"Right now it’s about finishing the season strong with Tottenham and making sure we’re trying to establish a really strong foundation for who we want to be in the years to come.
"That can only happen if I’m totally focused on what these last 14 games can bring for us."
"If it's just people throwing up names, then who cares?"
Asked if links to Liverpool were a compliment, Postecoglou added: "It depends. If it’s just people throwing up names, then who cares?
"It doesn’t matter, but at the end of the day, if I’m doing a good job then hopefully people will acknowledge that in one form or another — whatever that form is. But so-called 'chat’, really? That’s of no interest to me."
What Postecoglou has to deal with in the immediate future is being without both recognised full-backs for the visit of Wolves.
Pedro Porro suffered a muscle strain in training this week, while Destiny Udogie was forced off at the end of last weekend’s dramatic 2-1 win over Brighton with a minor issue.
Postecoglou is hopeful both will be back for Tottenham’s home fixture with Crystal Palace on March 2, with the club not in action next weekend due to Chelsea’s involvement in the Carabao Cup final.
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) has also returned to training, but Spurs’ back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster has fractured his foot and is set for a "couple of months" on the sidelines.
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