Waching daily Mar 27 2018

Young defender facing a spell on the sidelines - but Klopp has decent options.

Nathaniel Clyne stepped up his push for a first-team recall as a depleted Liverpool

squad trained at Melwood on Monday.

The Reds right-back is in contention for Saturday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace after

Joe Gomez was hurt on international duty.

Gomez is facing a spell on the sidelines after damaging his ankle playing for England in

their friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday night.

That means Trent Alexander-Arnold and Clyne are competing for the right to start at Selhurst

Park.

Losing Gomez represents a blow for Jurgen Klopp as the 20-year-old has been in fine

form - clocking up 29 appearances so far this term.

However, his absence could open the door for Clyne, who hasn't played for Liverpool since

the win over Middlesbrough on the final day of last season.

The England international suffered a back injury in pre-season which required surgery

and he embarked on a lengthy rehabilitation programme.

Clyne made his comeback a month ago in Liverpool Under-23s' emphatic 4-0 win over Stoke City

and has been steadily building up his fitness levels since.

Klopp's non-internationals returned to training at Melwood on Monday after being given last

week off.

Clyne trained with the likes of Alberto Moreno, Dejan Lovren, James Milner, Loris Karius,

Danny Ward, Danny Ings and Joel Matip.

The full squad will be reunited on Wednesday - less than 72 hours before the lunchtime

clash

with Palace.