Liverpool handed major injury boost as Ibrahima Konate trains with France ahead of World Cup qualifiers | OneFootball

The centre-back was forced off during the 1-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has trained with the France squad just days after limping off in the win over Arsenal.

Speaking afterwards, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot played down the severity of the Frenchman’s injury but was hopeful the scan would return some positive news.

“Jeremie Frimpong wasn’t too happy, like some pundits and journalists, when I took him off against Bournemouth because he thought he only had cramp, or only felt a little bit, and he is already out for two or three weeks now. Let’s wait and see.

“On a positive note... Joe Gomez, what a 15 minutes. I had to make one difficult choice today because I had to leave one player out of the squad with only Jeremie Frimpong being injured, so then I only had to make one difficult decision on who I could not take in the squad.

“The good thing was it was a centre-back, Giovanni Leoni, so we are perfectly placed in that position.”

In a boost for Liverpool, Konate joined up with the France squad on Monday and took part in a training session on Tuesday, getting to grips with club team-mate Hugo Ekitike as Les Bleus prepare for an important week.

France begin their World Cup qualification campaign against Ukraine on Friday before hosting Iceland at the Parc des Princes four days later.

Konate is in line to start both games following Arsenal defender William Saliba’s withdrawal from the squad due to an ankle injury he suffered at Anfield.