Liverpool have been boosted by the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The midfielder is back in training, reported Football Transfer Tavern, after his long spell on the sidelines following another knee injury.
He’s been out since August and has missed the entire Liverpool campaign so far, but his period in purgatory could be about to end.
Thiago and Fabinho look set to return to the field, as well, and this could be a little ray of sunshine in an increasingly bleak couple of weeks for the Reds.
Jurgen Klopp will want as many midfielders as possible available, especially after Jordan Henderson tweaked something during England duty.
On his day, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a highly valuable member of the squad but those days have been rare. Injury issues and a failure to get a consistent run of form have hampered his progression at Liverpool, even if he played 43 games in all competitions last season.
Four Premier League goals and one assist where complimented by three strikes in the Champions League – all of which were excellent and all of which came against Genk in the group stages.
We know that Liverpool like to stay quiet about players’ return to fitness and it’s unlikely we’ll here anything concrete from Klopp for the time being. He’s been incredibly cautious with timescales, but the fact that the Ox is back on the ground with a ball at his feet is optimistic.
The last thing we want is for this player to miss another season because of a knee injury. The ACL blow he sustained against Roma came at the worst possible time for his Liverpool career, and the former Arsenal man has struggled to get back to those levels ever since.
With time, love and patients, he can do so again. Just as long as the Ox can stay fit.