‘I am not weak’ says Slot, but Salah could return

Salah said in his interview that “it was very clear that someone wanted me to take all the blame”, but Slot explained that he did not know whether this comment was directed at him or not and explained his reasons for leaving Salah out for the last three matches.

“It’s hard for me to know who you’re talking about,” Slot said.

“I don’t feel that way. He has the right to feel that way, but he doesn’t have the right to share it with the media.

“He was very respectful and trained really hard before the weekend, so his comments came as a surprise to me.

“Yes we were [on speaking terms] But that doesn’t mean we always agree on some issues.

“But it’s not the first or last time a non-playing player has said something like this.

“As a team we have struggled this season. I tried to find solutions, that’s my job. We tried a lot of things and we looked very vulnerable against Nottingham Forest and PSV, so I decided to play with an extra midfielder.”

Sources have told BBC Sport that the decision to leave Salah at home was taken with the full support of Slot and that it would be in the interests of all parties for the player to have a brief absence from selection, given the nature and timing of his public comments.

It is understood that the club will not take formal disciplinary action.

Egyptian striker Salah departs for the Africa Cup of Nations next Monday and is also likely to miss Liverpool’s home Premier League match against Brighton on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Salah has scored 250 goals for Liverpool since joining from Roma in 2017, but has scored just five goals in 19 appearances this season.