Jürgen Klopp today explained why Dejan Lovren’s excellent current form is exactly what he expected from the centre-back before he took up the managerial reins at Liverpool last October.

The Croatia defender has excelled at the heart of the Reds’ back line since returning to the side against Manchester City on March 2 following a month out of action due to injury.

Klopp insists he is not surprised by Lovren’s imperious displays, recalling the performance he turned in against his former side, Borussia Dortmund, during a pre-season friendly back in 2014 at Anfield.

The manager told journalists at a press conference: “What can I say about Dejan Lovren? I heard about before I came here, and I saw in his eyes when I came here, that he was not in the best situation.

“But for him, it was really good because I had only one game in mind – it was the game for Liverpool against Borussia Dortmund in a friendly. I think it was his first game for Liverpool and he was outstanding in it, so I was pretty positive and for sure, that helped him.

“Sometimes for players, that’s the good thing with a complete change – that you can start really new, and that’s what he did. Now everybody can see what he is capable of. Dejan is in a good way.”

Lovren was outstanding once again on Thursday night as Liverpool recorded a 1-1 draw at Manchester United to move into the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Both he and Mamadou Sakho defended resolutely throughout the contest to help book the Reds’ place in the last eight of the competition.

Klopp was understandably full of praise for the pair, but equally eager to highlight the contributions of others in the position.

“Last night, the games of both centre-halves were really brilliant, but I don’t want to forget in this position Martin Skrtel, who played with big passion in the U21s game [against West Ham on Wednesday], driving six hours to London on the bus. He had a long-term injury, that’s right, but he is brilliant too.

“Kolo Toure has done a brilliant job since I’ve been here. When I started here, he could play 30 minutes or something but now he is always available and a real role model in each training session, so that’s great. Lucas played perfectly in this position.

“We had a lot of problems with centre-halves and had not the best record for conceding goals for a while, but we’ve had really good performances in this position.”