Jurgen Klopp could feel the emotion inside Anfield as Jon Flanagan made his Liverpool return after almost 18 months on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Flanagan received a rapturous ovation from the Liverpool faithful as he made his first competitive appearance for the senior side since the final day of the 2013-14 Premier League season against Newcastle United.
The 23-year-old came on as a substitute and replaced Connor Randall in the 51st minute of Wednesday s 3-0 win over Exeter City in the FA Cup third round replay.
The German was touched by Flanagan s return and his reception, praising the defender s character and spirit for getting himself back to fitness.
When Flanno [Flanagan] came in it was a great moment after this long time. To be honest I haven t had him very often in training until now because we need really to be careful with him and it s not allowed to be too intensive. It s always training, break, recovery, Klopp said.
He had a few minutes in the Under-21s. Connor Randall had a little muscle problem so we had the chance to bring Flanno on and it was a real emotional moment.
I think nobody deserved it more than him. It s such a long time, an unbelievable long time. Since I ve been here he s always been injured but never in a bad mood.
That s unbelievable. He s a really strong lad, hopefully now it goes on. We have to see how he is tomorrow, take it day by day but it s some of the best news we could get him being back.
