Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has confirmed that midfielders Jordan Henderson and Marko Grujic are closing in on returns after respective injury lay-offs.
The Reds' captain sustained a heel injury in the 1-0 win in the Premier League over Manchester City on New Years' Eve and missed the draw away at Sunderland a couple of days later.
He has yet to return to training from the problem, which keeps him out of this Sunday's FA Cup third round clash with Plymouth Argyle and is expected to sideline him for the EFL Cup semi-final first-leg against Southampton on Wednesday.
However, Klopp is confident that the 26-year-old is closing in on a return to fitness.
"Absolutely possible" Henderson returns after Southampton
The German manager declared that there is "good news" for Henderson, explaining: "We had this issue with the heel and we had to take him out for a while, but he is already on the way back."
Klopp said that the skipper had "no chance for the weekend" and said he is "sure" that they will take "no risk for Southampton."
But he stated that it is "absolutely possible" that Henderson could be back after that for the crunch clash with rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Grujic "on a good way", insists Klopp
Meanwhile, summer signing Grujic is also expected back soon having struggled with a tendon issue since the end of November.
The midfielder hasn't featured for the Reds' first-team since an EFL Cup win over Leeds United at Anfield two months ago, though Klopp believes he is now on the mend.
He revealed that Grujic is still out but is "on a good way too" and that "maybe the end of this week or the start of next week he will be back in team training."
Klopp admitted that Grujic's situation has been "difficult" because they "had to do not too much" because "it was how it is with muscles" and they "all heal differently."
"In this case, he obviously took a little bit longer," acknowledged Klopp, who said that the Serbian is "not injured anymore" but is "not match fit."