KEY POINTS

  • Henderson last featured in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Tottenham on 11 February.
  • The midfielder has been struggling with a foot injury.

Liverpool have suffered a massive injury blow as they are likely to be without the services of Jordan Henderson for the next three fixtures.

The Reds captain last featured in his side's 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on 11 February and since then has been sidelined with a foot injury. However, he recovered from the setback and travelled and trained with the younger players in Tenerife during the international break.

Jurgen Klopp was hopeful the midfielder could return to action against Everton on 1 April. His chances of being involved in the Merseyside derby were crushed when he failed to make it to the trainingon Thursday.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager confirmed that the England international suffered a setback on his road to recovery and admitted that his star player could miss the next week's training.

"Jordan has unfortunately had a little setback, he's not in the team training up till now, that's how it is," Klopp explained, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

"I can't say in this moment how long - hopefully not too long. Yes, I know when we were here last time I said I hoped he would be in training in this week but he wasn't. So next week looks like this too, so we have to wait for this."

Liverpool take on Everton on Saturday, followed by AFC Bournemouth's visit to Anfield on 5 April. Klopp will take his men to bet365 Stadium, where they take on Stoke City on 8 April and Henderson is set to miss these three fixtures, if he fails to return to training next week.

The German manager is already without Adam Lallana after the midfielder picked up a thigh injury while on international duty with England. The former Southampton star could be out of action for a month and Henderson's latest setback will only make it worse for the Reds.

Klopp is left with Emre Can, Georginio Wijnaldum and Lucas Leiva as the recognised midfielders in the squad in the absence of Henderson and Lallana.

Liverpool are fighting with four other clubs, Spurs, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal for a place in the top four. The Reds are currently fourth in the table with 56 points after 29 games, leading fifth place United by four points. However, United have an advantage of two games in hand. The Anfield outfit are a point behind third place City and three points behind second place Tottenham.