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Jurgen Klopp has explained Jon Flanagan’s recent absence as he insisted the Liverpool defender is still working his way back to full fitness.

The 23-year-old full-back, who made his comeback from a serious knee injury in January after 18 months out, hasn’t featured for the Reds since he captained the team in last month’s 3-2 defeat at Southampton.

Flanagan, who recently penned a new three-year contract, isn’t eligible to play in the Europa League but has been overlooked for the past five league matches with Klopp opting to pick Connor Randall as well as Nathaniel Clyne ahead of him.

The Academy graduate insists he’s ready for action and he’s hoping to earn a recall for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Swansea City.

Klopp says the amount of recovery time Flanagan needs after a game is behind the decision to take him out of the firing line over the past month.

“Flanno’s situation is not too easy to explain,” Klopp said.

“He cannot train all the time and when you are out for such a long period you cannot build a base.

“That is all. It is a little bit similar, but a different story, to what I said about Daniel Sturridge.

“If we want to help him we need to work on his physical resistance so he is really ready for more than one game and does not need two or three days recovery. That is not how it should work.

"That is what we will try to do.”