Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Dejan Lovren is unlikely to feature before the first international break of the season.
The centre-back has not played since helping Croatia to the final of this summer's World Cup, missing Liverpool's opening two Premier League wins over West Ham United and Crystal Palace with a pelvic issue.
Klopp confirmed that Lovren will definitely be sidelined for Saturday's home match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and also expects him to miss next Saturday's trip to Leicester City.
"Dejan is coming closer but he is not really around team training in the moment. I'm not 100% sure what he is doing today because we are the day before the game, so he will not be involved in that [the Brighton] game," Klopp told reporters at his pre-match press conference.
"I'm pretty sure no chance for the Leicester game and then hopefully after the international break he will be ready to go, that would be nice.
"That was actually the target from the first day when he was in and we knew about his problems, and we always thought if we can give him that time, if he could come through that time, that would be cool."
Joe Gomez has been partnering Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence in Lovren's absence.
