Curtis Jones is well placed to keep his starting berth for Liverpool’s trip to West Ham United on Sunday in the absence of the suspended Dominik Szoboszlai. The England international made his 100th Premier League appearance for the Reds in their Boxing Day 3-1 win over Leicester City and marked it with a goal.

Jones had started in place of Dominik Szoboszlai, who had shone days earlier in the 6-3 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur. And with the Hungarian picking up his fifth yellow card of the season off the bench against the Foxes, he will now miss the trip to the London Stadium.

Jones has been an impressive performer so far this season, returning three goals and three assists from 21 appearances. His form at club level earned him an England debut last month, which he marked with a goal in a 3-0 win in Greece.

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The 21-year-old's displays have certainly caught the eye of his former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Jones previously revealed he received a congratulatory text message from the German in the immediate aftermath of his 100th Premier League appearance earlier this week.

And he’s now shared what Klopp said in a second text message - as well as an accompanying picture - as the midfielder paid a heartfelt tribute to his old boss.

“I actually got a nice text off him. He was the one that said I'd played 100 games in the Premier League – I didn't even know,” said Jones. “'A hundred, onto the next 500. Congratulations, my friend.'

“And a picture of… (Klopp’s granddaughter). All smiles, yeah. It means everything.

“Look, he has been texting me loads since he's been gone. He texts me all the time. That's what he is like as well with all the lads. He keeps in touch.

“He is the man who made me from a kid to a man. There was always talk around me, 'Is he good enough? He's always injured and he needs a loan'. Things like that.

“There's a reason why I'm still here now, and that's because of him and the belief that he had in me and always knew the star that I can be.

“I'm not saying I'm a star now but he knows if I'm doing the right things – I'm scoring goals and I'm playing every week – with the quality that I've got, I can always help the team.

“I'm grateful for him and his staff, and it puts a smile on my face when I see a text off him there.

“I just said to him, 'I hope you are enjoying your time, your Christmas.' He said, 'Yeah, I am!'

“It's nice and he's always there with us. He's a great man, so I'm happy that he's still around from afar.”

Liverpool currently sit six points clear at the top of the Premier League, and will have the opportunity to extend their advantage at West Ham.

Having been part of the Reds side that won the Premier League in 2020, but also fell short despite leading the table in subsequent years, Jones has admitted that the Liverpool dressing room have discussed how they can make sure that does not happen again.

“In the past, there's been times where we have been top of the league and you always see a little bit of a dip in terms of the performance of the lads and the performances as well,” he conceded. “This is something that we've already spoken about.

“It's game after game, we don't think about the end and lifting the cup and things like that. It's just game after game because we know if we win every single game now then you know what it is at the end of the season.

“So, that's the important thing – give it your all and you're helping your mates out. We'll see at the end. There's still plenty of games, so we take each game as it comes.”

Meanwhile, Jones is well aware that he has had his injury struggles in his career so far. But now a key player under Slot, he’s determined to push on and make sure such woes remain a thing of the past.

“It's just game after game after game. As a footballer, that's what you enjoy, especially for someone like me,” he told the club website. “I've had a hard run, my career has been up and down for reasons, I've had my injuries and stuff.

“Touch wood it stays the same [as now] I'm in the team, I'm scoring goals and I'm enjoying it, so I just hope it continues.”