Liverpool defend Mohamed Salah from Egypt criticism over injury return

Liverpool assistant manager Pep Ljinders has come out in defence of Mohamed Salah after the injured forward was heavily criticised for his return to the club for treatment.

Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Egypt's AFCON clash with Ghana last week which was initially only expected to keep the winger sidelined for a handful of days, before a more detailed scan confirmed the injury was worse than first feared. The decision was then made to send Salah back to Liverpool, with Egypt hopeful he could return to the tournament in the later stages.

The news that Salah is set to leave Egypt's AFCON camp has not gone down well with everyone however, with legendary ex-captain Ahmed Hasan accusing the forward of«plotting his departures» from the squad.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Liverpool's Carabao Cup clash with Fulham, assistant manager Ljinders had hit back at Hasan, stating that no one should question Salah's loyalty to the national team.

«You should never doubt the commitment of Mohamed Salah,» Ljinders said. «I never met a guy, and also a human being, who is more committed to the life of being a professional football player.

»I know the country is devastated to lose him. We were devastated to hear that he got injured. He played the first game, scored, assisted, the captain, a massive importance of course. But the only reason why their medical team, and our team, decided for him to come back is to give him the best possible chance to be available in the final, if Egypt reach the final.

«I think that because of the first message that came out, saying it would only be a few days, one week [confused matters].

»Then they made a detailed scan and it came out that there is a proper tear in his hamstring that means the