Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he had to tell Mohamed Salah to stop defending and protect his legs in Thursday’s 6-1 win over Sparta Prague.

Salah started only his second Liverpool game since New Year’s Day as he stepped up his comeback from injury, and the Egyptian netted after just ten minutes to become the first Liverpool player to ever reach 20 goals in seven different seasons.

Before the game, Klopp insisted that Salah, who also added three assists against Sparta, was not ready to play a full 90 minutes, but he remained on the field for the full game on Thursday, leaving fans sweating about his condition heading into Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Manchester United.

Klopp told the media that he had planned to withdraw Salah before further injury problems forced him to make changes elsewhere, but the German boss had a comical plan to ensure his talisman remained healthy.

“It was not the plan he plays 90 minutes, the plan was to take him off when we brought on Mateusz [Musialowski] but Bobby Clark said [he felt something] and Mo is experienced enough that he recovers during the game,” Klopp explained.

“I told him not to defend anymore – I never told a player that before!”

Reacting to Salah’s latest Liverpool record, Klopp continued: “In seven years together with him, the one problem we never had was consistency.

“Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop. He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s how it is, he will not stop.

“I’m less surprised than maybe some others, I thought it had already happened to be honest but he was injured for a while, otherwise he would have done it in January or February.

“But great, very good, and great to have him back.”