Jurgen Klopp gives uncertain injury update on Emre Can and Dejan Lovren ahead of Middlesbrough trip

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Liverpool midfielder Emre Can will be ready for the weekend trip to Everton but still remains a doubt for the coming clash at Middlesbrough on Wednesday (14 December). Meanwhile, the boss was also uncertain on Dejan Lovren's availability for the visit to the Riverside Stadium after the centre-back was forced off during the weekend 2-2 draw with West Ham as a precaution.

Can played the full 90 minutes during the recent 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth but was a surprisingly absentee in Sunday's game with the Hammers. Just prior to the game, Liverpool revealed through the club's official Twitter account that Can had suffered a minor knee injury.

Klopp has now given a more in-depth update ahead of a crucial week which will see Liverpool visiting Middlesbrough before the Merseyside derby at Everton, assuring that in the worst case Can will be fit to face the Toffees.

"Emre was a challenge with Divock [Origi] in training, knee on knee. Both trained on and both could do the rest of the training, but Emre had a little bit more pain so we looked a little bit more exactly on it [...] I never heard about this ligament, but it's a little bit damaged," Klopp said in the press conference. "[...] He's in doubt for Wednesday, but I think [for] Everton he will be back for sure. It would be cool if he could train tomorrow, we will see. It's painful, not really more."

Lovren, meanwhile, was replaced at half-time by Ragnar Klavan after suffering with cramp. Klopp had previously said that the substitution was only a precaution.

Asked whether Lovren's injury was nothing more serious than cramp, Klopp insisted: "Hopefully; I don't know more at this moment. It was cramp. He told me he wanted to play and I told him I want to play too, but since 20 years I can't!

"It's not about what you want, it's about what is possible and we made the decision together it's better to take him off, but we don't know more about it in the moment."

Meanwhile, the boss also confirmed that the visit to the Riverside Stadium will come too early for Marko Grujic as the 20-year-old starlet is struggling with a tendon injury.

"It's kind of where the tendon goes over the muscle, so it is a little tendon injury," Klopp said after Grujic had already missed the last two games. "They told me it was round about three weeks, so he is already on the way back, but not back. When it happened, he trained normally and then afterwards he felt it a little bit. That was the diagnosis and since then he has been out."