Jurgen Klopp gives confirmation to Thiago with just three Liverpool stars now left on the sidelines

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Thiago Alcantara will not feature at Liverpool against West Brom this weekend.

But re-forming duo Xherdan Shaqiri and James Milner are both in line to feature as Liverpool’s injury concerns become clearer.

Spain international Thiago has finally returned to first-team training this week and hopes to make his return during the holiday season.

The 29-year-old was sidelined with a knee injury suffered in the Merseyside derby in October, following a savage challenge from Richardson, for which the Brazilian was given a red card.

He suffered a series of setbacks in his attempt to return to action, but after working with the club’s physiotherapists for several weeks, the ex-Bayern Munich star resumed his first-team work this week.

Reds boss Klopp said Thursday: “Thiago has taken his first steps in team training. Not yet full.

“After a long time, we can’t rush him.”

“The other guys are closer, Shaq trained well. Milly [Milner], yesterday a full session. We still have two days of training before making a decision. “

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also back in contention for this weekend, while Thiago hopes to play at Newcastle next week.

Klopp has lost 19 players to injury or viruses at various times this season, but now sees the vast majority of his squad’s problems resolved.

Only Diogo Jota – potentially ruled out until the end of January – and long-missing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are still on the injured list.

Klopp also praised Sadio Mane, who last weekend shattered a 10-game scoreless streak in the 7-0 Crystal Palace clash.

Klopp admitted: “We didn’t even know!

“I would have lost everything if I had to bet on the number of games he didn’t score for.

“One of our best players in the world hasn’t scored in a while, whatever? He’s so hard to defend – if Sadio has the ball, you need two or three against him.

* Sign up for the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip