Jürgen Klopp confirmed that Joe Gomez is likely to miss the rest of the season after scans revealed he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on international duty.

The 18-year-old returned from duty with England U21s after being forced off late on in a win over Kazakhstan in Coventry City's Ricoh Arena on Tuesday night.

Despite the knock initially being brushed off as nothing serious, the assessment by Liverpool's team at Melwood revealed that the teenager will require surgery on the injury, which is likely to mean he has to wait until next year for another competitive outing for the club.

Klopp, talking to reporters in a pre-match press conference on Thursday, said that he was impressed with what a "wonderful young boy" Gomez is when he first met him this week.

He hailed his physical stature, which has seen him make a strong impression in his first few months at the club, but revealed that he has suffered an ACL injury which Liverpool will have to make "further diagnosis" on after he has surgery.

The German added that the versatile defender will be counting the days until his return, acknowledging that he is a "very young guy" and that it will have been a disappointment to him.

But though Gomez's absence will affect his options at the back, Klopp said he is "pretty good at waiting for players" and will not put any pressure on the young Englishman to return.

He added that the club will do "everything" they can in order to speed up his recovery and get him back on the pitch "as soon as possible."

The club will however be unavailable to obtain a compensation fee from FIFA, who only pay out if players are injured on senior international duty.

Benteke and Firmino unavailable for Spurs trip

The Reds boss will be without several players for his first game in charge on Saturday afternoon, as they venture down to the capital to take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

But though they won't be available for the showdown with Spurs, he insisted that forwards Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino are progressing well in their bids for recovery.

Klopp said the duo are "on their way" and said they are continually "getting better and better" despite the fact that they have not yet returned to full first-team training.

He added that he is unable to place a timeline on their returns, but did divulge that both players are hoping to be back into the "normal team training" by next week - which will allow the coaching staff to "see how good a shape they are in" and judge their fitness and "how well they feel."

He ruled both the Brazilian and the Belgian out of Saturday's game, adding that he doesn't think they will be available for his first Anfield game, a Europa League group stage clash against Rubin Kazan next Thursday, but said that next Sunday's Premier League fixture with Southampton could see them return to the fold.