Why Diogo Jota was not in Liverpool team training on Thursday as two other players missing
Diogo Jota was not in Liverpool team training on Thursday ahead of the Reds’ trip to Brentford on Saturday. The Portuguese came off the bench to equalise with his first touch as Arne Slot’s side drew 1-1 away from Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
The striker returned from an upper body impact injury last month, having been sidelined since October, and has scored four times since making his comeback.
However, Liverpool are still managing the forward carefully given his chequered injury past. Sky Sports were at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday and reported that the striker was ‘inside doing individual work’ as they filmed the rest of Arne Slot’s first team squad training outside.
READ MORE: Mohamed Salah has already shown Saudi hand as Liverpool contract negotiations put to the test
READ MORE: 'It's so poor really' - Jurgen Klopp has perfect response to latest Roy Keane tirade about Liverpool
Luis Diaz was also not with the rest of the group spotted in Sky’s training report video, with it understood that the Colombian was also doing individual training inside at the AXA Training Centre.
Meanwhile, Joe Gomez remains absent because of a hamstring injury but Darwin Nunez was back with the group though, after missing the trip to the City Ground through suspension.
Ahead of the trip to Nottingham Forest, Slot had revealed that Jota, like all of his players, had individual training programmes.
“All of them have 80 percent the same programme and the last 20 percent is for every player individual,” he explained. “They do individual work in the gym as well.
“So it is not only for him we have a special programme, we try to have a special programme for all the squad players we have. He, like all the others, is someone I like to have in my squad and like to have him available.
“When it comes to building up his match fitness, it went from 30 minutes to 30 minutes to a bit more, a bit more and now he is ready to play 90. That is a good thing because we have to play many games in the upcoming weeks.
“It is nice to have him available and hopefully it stays like this for the last four or five months.”
