Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has insisted that he will be "100%" fit for the start of the new Premier League season after an injury scare in the Reds' 3-0 pre-season win over Manchester United.
The 23-year-old contributed to his side's emphatic beating of the Red Devils with the second goal of the contest in South Carolina, netting either side of strikes from Fabio Carvalho and Kostas Tsimikas.
However, Jones was only able to complete an hour of the contest at Williams-Brice Stadium, after also lasting just 31 minutes of the Reds' previous success over Real Betis and playing one half of the win over Arsenal.
The England youth international allayed fears of a possible long-term problem after Saturday's game, though, revealing that he had been dealing with ankle and knee niggles in the triumph over Real Betis.
Jones also confirmed that he was taken off in South Carolina due to a back concern, but he told the official Liverpool website that he would definitely be ready for the opening weekend of the new campaign.
Jones "100% ready" for new season
"I try to improve all the time. I feel I'm in a good place. I've had a little bit of an ankle and a knee issue and that is why I came off early in the Real Betis game," Jones said.
"But in terms of [fitness] I could have played the whole game then yes, but I got a whack on my back and the head coach just said to me, 'We've took you off more as a precaution and we don't need to risk anything.' If you are saying, 'Am I fit?' [then] 100 per cent I am ready for the start of the season."
Jones has benefitted from the absence of Argentinian Copa America winner Alexis Mac Allister to start all three of Liverpool's games in the USA, and the early indications are that he will play an important role under Slot in 2024-25.
The Liverpool boss overseen three successive wins for his side in their pre-season tour of the USA, but the Reds were under the cosh for a large portion of their clash with Man United, who had 18 shots compared to nine for the Merseyside giants.
Liverpool's ruthlessness was the difference on the night, but Slot issued a measured reaction to the three-goal win, admitting that Erik ten Hag's team deserved more from the encounter.
Slot: 'Liverpool needed more control over the game'
"We saw some great goals during this tour, some great build-up situations and I see them working really, really hard not to concede. Like I said, today I think we gave away too many chances, United deserved more than a 3-0 loss. But it's also our quality that we do score our own chances," the Reds manager said.
"We are very happy with the result, we scored some really nice goals. But I don't think we had enough control over the game because United were threatening us more than a few times. It's a 3-0 win but the score could have been different tonight as well.
"A lot of new players come in – I think seven, eight or nine maybe. Not new but they come back from their holiday. So it's interesting to see how these players fit into the team and implement them as soon as we can.
"We need to work hard in the upcoming two weeks to be ready for Ipswich because there are a lot of positives to take from today but also, like I just said, we gave away too many chances."
Liverpool now prepare for two friendlies at Anfield on August 11, firstly welcoming Sevilla in front of a crowd a few hours before hosting Las Palmas behind closed doors.
The Reds' first Premier League match of the new season comes at 12.30pm on August 17, when they travel to meet newly-promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road. body check tags ::
