Liverpool handed huge boost with key player back training ahead of Crystal Palace clash

Liverpool have been handed a major injury boost ahead of their Premier League clash with Crystal Palace this weekend, with one player now back in training.

The Reds are looking to bounce back from their devastating 5-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 stage on Friday, having been 2-0 up inside 15 minutes.

But a number of defensive errors led to Real taking control of the tie, and Jurgen Klopp's side know they must win by three goals themselves at the Bernabeu to have any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The Reds went into the game with optimism, having recorded a timely pair of 2-0 wins over Everton and Newcastle in the Premier League.

They sit in eighth position in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand.

And they can make it three wins in a row domestically when they travel to Palace on Saturday, with Patrick Vieira's side having not won any of their last seven games in the league.

They did, however, come within a matter of moments of breaking Brentford's 10-match unbeaten run last weekend, only for Vitaly Janelt to score a 96th-minute equaliser.

Ahead of the game, Liverpool boss Klopp has confirmed that one injured player is close to completing his recovery - although he will not play at Selhurst Park.

Klopp confirms major Liverpool injury boost

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp revealed that centre-back Ibrahima Konate is edging closer to a comeback from a hamstring injury that has ruled him out of the last four games.

Klopp said: "Ibou is near. But he has had just two seasons after a long injury."

On the recent comebacks of Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino from long injuries, Klopp replied: "You can see when the boys come on, they are not at their best yet," he added.

"But they need the minutes and everything will get better, but that is exactly the situation we have.

"We are not sure if all the boys could even play again after Madrid because of some knocks here and there. We are really not 100 per cent clear so then we have to make changes and we want to make changes and we will make changes anyway.

"But it is not that you come back from a long injury and it is just clicking again. We have this situation now [Firmino and Jota], and it's like that for Virgil [van Dijk] too."

Liverpool's defence struggled hugely against Real at Anfield on Tuesday, and while Konate may not be back to take on Palace, his impending return ahead of the second leg of the tie against the Spanish giants will provide a boost.

The 23-year-old will now hope he can return to action in time for the trip to the Bernabeu on March 15, with four matches to be played by the Reds between now and then.