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Jurgen Klopp insists his under-fire Liverpool players need an arm around the shoulder rather than a rocket up the backside.

Standards have slipped in recent weeks with just one win in eight matches ahead of Tuesday night’s pivotal Premier League clash with Chelsea at Anfield.

However, Klopp’s positivity remains undented and he says the message is the same - both inside and outside the dressing room.

“I am absolutely not a manager for the public,” Klopp said.

“I am not a manager who is interested in what I should say to you and I am not interested in what people think about what I say.

“I am only interested in what my players think after I have spoken to them. Hopefully I speak to my players better than I speak to you.

“I’m not going to punish them in there and then come here and be a positive guy.

“I forget your questions the second after you ask it. I go out and work with the players again and that’s what I’m interested in – nothing else.”

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Klopp endured an alarming slump during his final season with Borussia Dortmund in 2014/15. They were bottom at Christmas but staged a stirring response in the second half of the season to finish seventh.

Liverpool’s current plight isn’t on the same scale but Kopites will be hoping for a similarly strong revival.

“You can’t compare,” he added.

“It was the strangest football season ever. In all statistics we were second but we were 17th or 18th in the league table.

“We created most chances, we had most possession, we ran the most, our opponents had less chances than us. In everything overall, we were second but we were unlucky that’s why it is important in situations like this is that if you are convinced about your players then stay cool, things will change.

“We can talk about all the things we’ve done wrong this season but on the other side we’ve had a few not nice decisions at decisive moments. On Saturday an offside goal, again.

“You could play exactly the same shape and the results could be different. You know better than I do in England where everything is about results, nobody would care then.”

Klopp will decide on Tuesday what involvement Sadio Mane will have against Chelsea following his return from the Africa Cup of Nations. The Senegal international will be assessed after flying back to Merseyside on Monday evening - 24 hours later than originally planned.

“We were prepared to collect him with the plane but it was not allowed to leave on Sunday so he had to go with the (Senegal) team,” Klopp added.

“So he had to have another night away but he had an English physiotherapist (Dave Galley) with him. He had a recovery session on Monday morning and then the plane got permission to leave.”