Liverpool injury news: Jurgen Klopp refuses to hand a timeline on Daniel Sturridge's return

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has refused to give a deadline on Daniel Sturridge's return from injury and insists that the England international will be given all the time in the world to recuperate. The 26-year-old missed a major part of last season with a hip problem and was sidelines yet again with a knee problem he sustain in October.

Klopp is currently struggling up front with injuries, following a season ending setback for Danny Ings, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament along with defender Joe Gomez. Christian Benteke has also had his problems, but has returned to first team action with a bang against Chelsea, where he scored the third goal to secure an impressive 3-1 victory for the Reds.

The Reds are currently ninth in the league and are hosting high flying Crystal Palace at Anfield where a win will take them closer to a top four finish, currently seven points adrift of a top-four spot. Klopp has likened Sturridge's hiatus from the first team as an extended summer break and expects to talk to the player about keeping his fitness when he is back in full training.

"I think Studge will be back soon - but soon is relative and I actually don't know," Klopp said, as quoted by the Mirror. "He hasn't returned as fast as we thought he would, but we cannot put pressure on him. All I can say is that at this moment he is training outside again after four weeks. So of course he needs time so that we can bring him back to good shape. Once he starts training properly, I will talk about when Daniel can play.

"At the moment it is like he has had another summer break. He needs to train hard before I can really talk about him playing," he added.

The Reds are also without club captain Jordan Henderson, but the England international is expected to return to training later this month after recuperating from a broken leg.