Jurgen Klopp has explained the absence of Fabio Carvalho from the Liverpool squad - but is adamant the youngster has done "nothing wrong" as he goes through a necessary difficult period in his fledgling career.
With Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino back available from injury, Carvalho was among a number of senior players absent from the bench for the 2-0 home derby triumph against Everton on Monday.
The 20-year-old is likely to again miss out when Liverpool travel to Newcastle United on Saturday evening, despite having scored a dramatic injury-time winner in the Anfield meeting between the teams back in August.
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Carvalho has featured for only three minutes in the Premier League since the defeat at Nottingham Forest in October and has started only eight times since his summer move from Fulham.
And while accepting the youngster will be unhappy at his lack of action, Klopp is convinced the attacking midfielder remains on the right track.
"Fabio is a very young player and a big talent," said the Reds boss. "He has played well for us in a couple of games. Now the situation is we have to make a squad and he couldn't make the last one. That's how it is.
"He hasn't played too often because from my point of view we needed different skills when we started or when we changed during the games. That's pretty much all.
"He did nothing wrong. He has improved a lot and developed a lot. He is a good kid and is in the middle of the group and the team and that's all fine."
Klopp added: "Obviously, he's not in a happy place at the moment. You cannot see that on the pitch or when I see him. It's not really obvious, but I can imagine because he's a footballer he wants to play, and he didn't play often enough.
"That cannot help a lot but that's another thing in a long career that you have to go through. For me it looks in the moment that he takes it as good as is possible."
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