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Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool will reap the benefits of easing captain Jordan Henderson into the new season.

The England midfielder has yet to start this term having come off the bench in the wins over West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton.

Henderson only reported back to Melwood on August 5 following an extended break after the World Cup and has been building up his fitness at Medlwood.

Klopp insists the Reds skipper remains absolutely key to his plans – despite the extra competition provided by summer signings Naby Keita and Fabinho.

“Of course it is difficult for him as captain, but Hendo is such an important player to us and he knows that. We had talks about that,” Klopp said.

“Especially with his style of play and how he puts everything on the pitch, you need to be in a really good shape physically.

“And he had these moments during the weeks, not this week, but the weeks before when you saw it is quite intense.

“You have to do that (the intense training) when you can. We could do it.

(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

“Hendo was the last one to come back, okay Dejan (Lovren) was but he's not been fit. Now Hendo has had four weeks. It will be six weeks by the time we play Tottenham.

“He's not in doubt and I am not in doubt about his role so he has dealt with it (not starting) well.”

Klopp must decide whether to keep faith with the midfield trio of Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner and Keita for Saturday's trip to Leicester City.

They have started the opening three matches with Henderson coming on for the final quarter of each of them.

Asked whether Henderson's absence from the starting line-up was down to his need for an extended pre-season or the form of his team-mates, Klopp added: “It is of course both.

"He if played completely, I don't know what kind of game in the first game, and you think 'wow' then we think immediately about a change.

“But if the performance of the team allows you the opportunity to bring other players in their best possible physical situation then you should use it and that's what we did.”

There's no question that the depth of Klopp's squad will be tested after the international break.

(Image: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Liverpool face crunch Premier League games against Tottenham, Southampton and Chelsea, as well as a Champions League opener against Paris Saint-Germain and a Carabao Cup tie with Chelsea – all in the space of just 14 days.

Players coming back at different stages over the summer following the World Cup has provided a real challenge for the manager and his staff in getting everyone up to speed.

Klopp said: “We are very experienced in that. We know how many yards you need to be in a situation where we can say: ‘Now you did what you have to do to be prepared.'

“It’s never perfect because a perfect pre-season would probably be eight weeks or something like that. But then they don’t have any holiday and you train constantly. That makes no sense as well.

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“It’s clear what you have to put in during this period. If you came through so far then you will be in a different situation in September.

“For September, we need to have a look at it because of the number of games we have and the intensity of the games.”

Liverpool boast a 100% record despite their front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino having yet to really fire. The manager knows there is plenty more to come.

“They are not at their top level yet, but I don't see anybody who did that so far because we are in the early part of the season,” Klopp added.

“It is completely normal. They will be but they are not there at the level of last season yet.

“When you win three times it sounds really crazy to say this, but it is still part of the pre-season, preparing for a very long season afterwards.

“We do more in training because they did not do much pre-season. When we play Saturday-Saturday we have the chance to train harder and do more work in the week.

“We do a lot more than we can do from September onwards when we play every three days so it has an effect.

“We have improved. You can see that in the numbers, they are all heading in a good way, but we are not the finished article yet fitness wise, and that is not a surprise.”