Jurgen Klopp allays injury fears after Divock Origi was forced off during EFL Cup win

Jurgen Klopp has allayed fears of a major injury to Divock Origi following Liverpool's win over Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the EFL Cup after confirming that it was just a cramp that forced the striker off in the second-half. The Belgian striker started the game alongside Daniel Sturridge, who scored both the goals in a 2-1 win to progress to the fifth round of the competition.

The German coach was impressed by the performance of his players, but rued his teams wasted chances. Klopp believes that his team could have won more comfortably owing to the number of chances they had on goal compared to their opponents – 18 for the Reds while Spurs had nine.

The Belgium international has struggled to nail down a regular place in the starting XI in the Premier League with all his seven appearances thus far this campaign coming from the bench. The former Borussia Dortmund manager was impressed with Origi's contribution on Tuesday night but admitted it is difficult to please all the forwards, as he cannot field all of them at the same time.

Apart from the Belgian, Danny Ings has also been patiently waiting in the wings for his chance, which again came as a second-half substitute during the win over Tottenham, which was his second appearance of the season. Sturridge and Roberto Firmino are ahead of the duo in the pecking order with even the former most likely to start from the bench when they travel to Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday (29 October).

"Yes [it was cramp], unfortunately. He was in a good moment but then cramp. That's the problem when you don't have rhythm, which he obviously doesn't have, things like this happen. It was quite intense. We wasted energy," Klopp said following the win over Tottenham, as quoted on Liverpool's official site.

"A lot of moments this season, the young boys wasted energy - they felt so good in this moment that they ran and created, but then they have to score. Unfortunately we didn't, so that means it's only a waste of energy – a good sign, but it can cause you cramps and that's what we had.

"It was quite positive [what I said to him]. There is no discussion about the quality of Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi or Danny Ings, it's only the situation and you cannot play with four strikers," the German coach explained.

"If you have an idea how we can do this plus defending, then come to me and tell me! But it's all good – [Divock has] big potential, is a good player and Belgium is obviously a lucky country with this big number of strikers."