Copyright dailystar
Arne Slot has confirmed Alexander Isak and Curtis Jones are "99.9%" ruled out of Liverpool's Premier League encounter with Aston Villa . However, the under pressure Reds manager has disclosed Ryan Gravenberch has returned to training and could feature ahead of a crucial week in his side's campaign. The midfielder has been sidelined for the past three matches after twisting his ankle in the home loss to Manchester United a fortnight ago. British transfer record signing Isak has been unavailable after the striker sustained a groin injury during the first half of the Champions League victory at Eintracht Frankfurt three days later, while midfielder Jones was forced off in the second half of last weekend's 3-2 Premier League defeat at Brentford. Slot doesn't anticipate having Isak and Jones available on Saturday evening, but he is growing more optimistic about Gravenberch's potential involvement against the Midlanders , reports the Liverpool Echo . Speaking on Friday morning, he said: "Ryan trained yesterday, Isak and Jones didn't yet." "Timescale? I have said many times, the end phase of the injury, things can go slower or faster. Let's wait and see where they are. "Ryan trained yesterday and with us today and we'll make the call if he can start. The other two 99.9% not in the squad." Alisson Becker and Jeremie Frimpong remain unavailable with hamstring injuries, while defender Giovanni Leoni is likely out for the rest of the season following ACL surgery. Liverpool face the Villa game before a Champions League fixture at home to Real Madrid and then travel to title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. Slot opted for a drastically altered line-up in Wednesday's 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace in the League Cup fourth round, leaving out Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike from the matchday squad despite their availability. However, the Reds' manager has brushed off any suggestions of a lack of depth in his squad. "We have enough to play the games but I have to take care of a few of them, why I made the decision not to play seven or eight," he stated. "I am happy with the team, the quality we have and convinced by the strategy and policy we have. But that makes it the issue, not all of them had a proper pre-season or have been injured, so when three or four are injured you go back to 15 or 16. "I am convinced 20 is enough but we are struggling to keep them fit for obvious reasons. "Alex came to us September 1 and it has been harder to keep them fit, so if a few aren't available it comes to the same players. Maybe last season we were lucky and now unlucky? But we've had a few away games with only a few days rest in between. No excuses, before people say. "We have to manage the situation, three games in seven or eight days. So nothing to do with squad depth more just injuries and availability of players."
