Liverpool to assess Sadio Mane's suspected broken thumb while extent of Virgil van Dijk injury is revealed

Liverpool are expecting Sadio Mane back on Merseyside later today or early tomorrow after he became the latest member of Jurgen Klopp's squad injured during the international break.

Senegal striker Mane suffered a suspected broken thumb in training before his country’s African Nations Cup qualifier with Sudan.

Early indications are it is not a serious issue, but it cannot be assessed until Mane reports back to Liverpool’s training ground at Melwood, which will most likely be on Wednesday morning.

A decision will then be taken whether a further procedure is necessary.

Mane is the third Liverpool player to suffer an injury scare this week, Mohamed Salah missing Egypt’s fixture with Swaziland with a muscle problem.

Virgil Van Dijk also cut short his international week, although that was due to a pre-existing injury. He has been playing with two broken ribs since being hurt against Southampton at the end of last month, according to Dutch manager Ronald Koeman.

The Netherlands permitted Van Dijk to return to Liverpool early, missing his country’s midweek fixture with Belgium. And now Koeman has explained why the centre-half will be absent.

“Virgil has been playing with two broken ribs for weeks and has been constantly injecting to play at Liverpool in recent weeks,” he said.

“He insisted on being present against Germany. That’s great, because you want internationals who want to be here at the expense of everything.”

Van Dijk’s ongoing rib injury is no secret, although until now it was not so clear how serious it is.

It is still not expected to prevent Van Dijk playing against Huddersfield in the Premier League this weekend.