JURGEN KLOPP has been left praying Simon Mignolet steers clear of injury after losing Loris Karius for two months.
Karius, 23, returned to England yesterday after tests showed he had broken a bone in his hand during last week’s loss to Chelsea in Pasadena.
The German keeper was crocked when he caught team-mate Dejan Lovren on the head, as he dived to make a clearing punch.
It was a huge blow to both the player and Klopp, who saw the £4.7million buy from Mainz as his long-term No1.
Now Mignolet will kick off the new campaign – and the Kop boss is sweating that nothing happens to him before the Premier League kick off against Arsenal.
Klopp admitted: “I never want an injured player and there’s never a good time with the timing of them.
“It’s not good for him, not for us but it won’t change and we have to take it. A broken bone in the hand for a goalkeeper isn’t great.
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“It’s not the worst but it could have been even worse. Six to eight weeks out is not the longest period but it’s not too good either.
“The training has been all about collecting information about the players, and it was a battle between Karius and Simon.
“Now that battle is decided for the next few weeks, 100 per cent. Of course I’m really happy we have Simon and hopefully he will stay in the race and not get injured.
“But we all know about his quality, He’s mad a good impression in his first few days back in training and we also have a very experienced one in Alex Manninger.”
Klopp is already without Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez for the start of the season, after both men suffered Achilles injuries.
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