Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that four of his Liverpool squad will be missing for the weekend's visit of Brighton, but elsewhere the Reds' injury issues are lessening.
The Seagulls come to Anfield for Liverpool's first Premier League game in four weeks, with matches at home to Wolves and away to Chelsea postponed following the death of the Queen.
Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all sidelined before the international break, and all four remain out of action for the visit of new boss Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton side.
Scotland captain Robertson was forced to miss his side's Nations League fixtures with a knee problem, but when questioned on how long the left-back will remain out for, Klopp seemed hopeful.
"He's doing really well," he said.
"It looks really good so he's not out for long. "He's already out on the pitch running. It's a good sign. I don't know if it will be next week or the week after."
Elsewhere the injury issues around the Reds squad have become less severe, while Klopp also dispelled concerns that attackers Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz would be unavailable for the weekend following international exertions.
All three were not spotted in training on Thursday, but Klopp said: "Diaz and Jota? Yes, they came back from the international duty and it's how it always is [after] a long flight, I didn't see them yet, I have heard they are good.
"Darwin, [missing training] was a precaution after the games, same for Diogo, that's it I think."
Centre-back Ibrahima Konate could be part of the squad to take on Brighton after he returned to training, with Scottish youngster Calvin Ramsay also returning to training and backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher in line for an appearance for the under-21s side this weekend.
Klopp's side are about to embark on a run of 13 matches in 42 days in one of the most hectic periods of their season, and Klopp knows they have plenty of ground to make up after a poor start to the season.
"I don't know how the World Cup will affect the Premier League," he said.
"The boys come back and play a week later. Usually you relax two or three weeks then go again.
"If you are in the final, you have two days. It's a really long season.
"I don't think it's a good idea, but that's how it is. For us the next six weeks are very important.
"We didn't have the started we wanted. For explainable and unexplainable reasons. That's now gone. Here we go, collect points back."
On having been out of action for so long, he added: "To have games in hand is not cool but we can't change it.
"The majority of my players played [internationals]. We didn't play but they did. They should be fine.
"We never look for excuses. This isn't the moment to think about that.
"Thank God the last game we played against Ajax was a good game.
"If it had been Napoli, it wouldn't be a good international break."
