Jurgen Klopp says Mohamed Salah's latest ankle injury 'nothing serious'

Jurgen Klopp said Mohamed Salah's removal five minutes before the end of Liverpool's 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur was a precautionary measure, as he sort to play down fears the Egyptian forward had suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury that forced him to miss the previous game. Salah, 27, was ruled out of the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on October 20 due to the problem and was taken off after receiving treatment on the field during the win over Spurs that kept the Reds top of the Premier League. He was seen walking around the pitch after the match with a bandage over his left ankle. "It's the ankle, the ankle he has struggled with since the Leicester game," Klopp said. "It's good but the longer the game goes the muscles get a bit tired, stuff like this, [and] if you get a knock on it then you feel it more. "It makes no sense to try to push it through because we had other players, still options to change, and that's what we did. No, nothing serious." Salah scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot after Jordan Henderson had cancelled out Harry Kane's early goal, scored after only 47 seconds. The goal brought up a half-century of goals for Salah at Anfield in only 58 matches, with only Roger Hunt reaching that mark faster than the Egyptian. Liverpool are next in action in the League Cup on Wednesday when they host Arsenal in the last 16 before facing Aston Villa away in the league on Saturday, with Salah unlikely to be risked for the midweek encounter. Klopp, whose side maintained their six-point lead over champions Manchester City, said conceding a goal so early on to Spurs helped concentrate Liverpool minds. The German, who guided Liverpool to within a point of the title last season before going on to win the Champions League final – beating Spurs in the final – said he was delighted with his players' response to Kane's early goal. "I am absolutely pleased, but to be honest, I expect it as well," he said. "An early goal is obviously not the best thing that can happen, but sometimes it makes one thing clear: game on. "The counter-press was exceptional, it was kind of back. I loved that, that was really good. "I told the boys at half time; 'The only problem in this game so far is the result – apart from that, it's good'."

Jurgen Klopp says Mohamed Salah's latest ankle injury 'nothing serious'

Salah taken off as a precaution five minutes from time against Tottenham having earlier scored his 50th goal for the club in a 2-1 win