Jurgen Klopp says he was "never in doubt" about the quality of Naby Keita as he challenged the Liverpool midfield to maintain his fitness.
Keita scored the only goal of the game on Saturday as the Reds came through an examination against an in-form Newcastle with a 1-0 win at St James' Park and the Guinea international has enjoyed a largely injury-free calendar year. Klopp said that he was never concerned about the ability of the former RB Leipzig man but admitted that the only doubts centred around his injury luck, saying that keeping fit is the key to Keita flourishing between now and the end of the season.
"Long may that continue!" Klopp said on Keita's fitness. "That is crucial, that is key to everything. If you have the skills of Naby Keita and you are not fit, then no one sees it. If you then come back and you are not in the best possible shape, that is normal, physically.
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"The player is never in doubt, not for a second because he is outstanding. So it is good that he is now available. Yes he is a very good option. He played a really good game in the league [against Newcastle], so we will see how long we can use him tomorrow, but he is a very good option."
Keita is in line for a start when the Reds are hosted by Villarreal in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night. Liverpool have a 2-0 lead from last week's match at Anfield and Klopp has called on his players to see the job through with a professional performance at El Madrigal.
He added: "With all these things during the season, obviously with the situation we are in we must have done something right, that is clear, but the problem in our job is everything is perfect until this moment I am sitting here and then the next game starts on the wrong foot, then all of a sudden the game gets a different dynamic.
"It is good to know and it is more a feeling inside, not that we are flying constantly and high-fiving here and there, but we know we are in a good moment. But on the other side, what would you do if you had lost 2-0 away? Maybe you are not happy with your performance knowing you can do better, with the crowd, why do you think what you have done in the past.
"My only concern is what we do tomorrow night and we have to be ready to suffer but not going down or whatever. That can happen in football matches. Giving the game the right direction. Let’s think they have the first shot on target, the crowd goes up, with each challenge, the crowd goes up and that is how it is.
"A good example was the game against Newcastle. The crowd was obviously very passionate but we did not let it happen which was the biggest quality of this game, it was not a show of football brilliance or whatever, we had our moments and of course could have scored more goals.
"But how clear cut the performance was, that was incredible and that is what we have to be. Yes emotional, yes ready to play the best game ever but knowing it will just not happen in all moments. We want to press here and there. Suffering doesn’t mean you suffer for long, it means you suffer and then [quickly] react. And that is what we have to do.
"It is not the only year that we have been going for the Champions League and Premier League, but in general our last periods of the season are always the most intense. That we have already qualified for the Champions League early this year is a really massive achievement.
"It helps us that we are historically really in the best possible shape. If we don’t have to push the boys through it, in 2018 we arrived in the final [against Real Madrid] on three wheels. We had players coming back from injury and that is different. We have to make sure we can make changes here and there and keep them all in rhythm and fit."
