Ousmane Dembele fit for Barcelona's clash against Getafe

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has confirmed that Ousmane Dembele is available to face Getafe at the Nou Camp after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Dembele, 20, has been out of action since 14 January and has been restricted to just four La Liga appearances since completing his £135m ($187m) transfer from Borussia Dortmund in August 2017.

The France striker suffered a separate muscle injury back in September that nearly sidelined him for four months.

Valverde said he would carefully manage Dembele's game time to ensure that he does not suffer a recurrence of the hamstring problem and hinted that the 20-year-old would start on the bench against Getafe.

"We have high hopes for him, and we need to be careful," the Barcelona coach told the club's official website.

"Hopefully he's going to do things in this phase of the competition, which is so decisive, but he's the kind of player who I think can help us.

"He's been getting into the group dynamic and slowly adapting to the team and tomorrow is a good game for him to be involved."

Valverde added that Gerard Pique is doubtful to feature against Getafe as he is yet to fully recover from a knee injury picked up in the Catalan derby against Espanyol.

"He does have some fitness issues from the Espanyol game, and we took a risk on Thursday [against Valencia] because it was such a decisive game, but tomorrow is also an important game, so we have to assess the situation," he said.

Thomas Vermaelen is also out with a hamstring injury, while fellow centre-back Samuel Umtiti is suspended.

"Thomas Vermaelen is coming to the end of his recovery," Valverde added. "Next week he might be able to join the squad but we'll see how the week develops."

Barcelona's lead at the top of the La Liga table has been cut to six points after Atletico Madrid beat Malaga on 10 February.