Jayden Danns was missing from Liverpool training on Wednesday and won’t travel to Prague, due to a concussion he sustained against Nottingham Forest last weekend.
The main talking point from Liverpool’s pre-Sparta Prague open training was the return of Mo Salah, who has played just 45 minutes for the Reds since New Year’s Day.
He could feature on Thursday, but one player unlikely to make the game is Jayden Danns.
The 18-year-old was absent from Wednesday’s session due to concussion, according to the Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle.
The journalist cites Dann’s “heavy collision with Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels” on Saturday, as the reason for his concussion.
The incident occurred in the 85th minute, when the ‘keeper came off his line to collect a cross, only for Danns to crash into him as he attempted to reach the ball.
With Sels on the floor, Liverpool’s young striker was shown a yellow card by referee Paul Tierney.
It is more likely that Liverpool are playing things safe with the 18-year-old than that he sustained a serious concussion, so he should be available next week.
However, due to concussion protocols, he will now miss the match against Sparta Prague. The FA’s guidelines state that for serious concussions, players must avoid contact sport for 14 days.
While we don’t know the full nature of Danns’ health, we can assume that he won’t need that length of time out, especially given he continued to play against Forest, though that can sometimes be a false indicator that players are OK.
The timing for Danns is a shame. Two goals against Southampton, as well as with impressive short appearances against Chelsea, Luton and Forest, meant he had a chance of starting in Prague.
Thankfully for Jurgen Klopp, he should have Darwin Nunez back in the equation as a starter after the Uruguayan returned from injury with a roar, scoring the 99th-minute winner on Saturday.
Fellow academy striker Lewis Koumas who, like Danns, also scored against Southampton, could feature for the Reds.
Klopp also has Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz he can call upon in attack – Salah is more likely to play against Man City from the start than vs. Sparta.
