Jurgen Klopp believes Diogo Jota is getting back to his best after his 'massive' goal set up a mouthwatering Wembley date with Manchester City.
Jota scored the only goal 12 minutes from time to earn the Reds a narrow win at Championship promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest in their FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday evening.
The Reds will now take on title rivals City on the weekend of April 16 for a place in the final having won through to the last four for the 26th time in their history.
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Jota has struggled for form since suffering an ankle injury last month that threatened his participation in the Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea.
And having seen the forward net his 19th goal of the season, Klopp said: “Oh what a player! What a boy! And this goal was exceptional. It was a good cross from Kostas (Tsimikas) but he stretched for it, reached and scored the goal obviously. It was massive.
“It just shows after his injury, he needed a little bit to get back on track and I hope he is really coming back healthy from the international break because he looks like he is better."
While Liverpool dominated possession and restricted Forest to just one shot on target, they were made to work hard in the final 15 minutes as the home side pressed for an equaliser. And Klopp was full of praise for the performance of the Championship side, who are managed by former Liverpool Academy coach Steve Cooper.
“It was the game we expected, especially if we don't use the chances or play better,” said the Reds boss. “We could have played better but we should have scored in the first half.
“We had some counter-attack situations when we lost the ball and things like this but if we score earlier it is a completely different game. We scored lateish and obviously Steve changed it up and went attacking.
“We had some counter-attacking chances and didn't use them or play them properly, but it is 1-0 at the end and it is all fine.”
Klopp added: “I have to give big respect to Steve and Nottingham Forest, it was a top, top performance. They were really well organised and passionate and in cup competitions, we all know that.
“We just really wanted to go to the next round and everything was prepared to give us a knock as well, but as we prepared for a fight, we came through it, which I am really happy about.”
