JUST IN: Very bad news has been announced for Curtis Jones this morning

Arne Slot fielded a significantly weakened Liverpool team in an attempt to beat Plymouth in the FA Cup, yet of the two experienced players available on his bench, Curtis Jones was not used at all during the match.

After the game, the head coach explained the reasoning for leaving the Scouser on the bench, despite the eventual defeat (via liverpoolfc.com):

“Curtis Jones was on the bench, but he came to me this morning and said, ‘I don’t think I am fully recovered yet’ as well after the training session of yesterday.

“This unexpectedly led to having more young players on the pitch than originally planned, but there was still enough quality on the field to achieve a better result than this.”

It’s evident that the Dutch manager was frustrated with his team’s performance, especially after being knocked out of the competition by the team currently at the bottom of the Championship.

Arne Slot was clearly disappointed with the performance at Plymouth

Arne Slot at Plymouth in the FA Cup (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Robbie Fowler labeled the performance as ‘un-Liverpool’ like, and it wasn’t until the latter stages of the match, when we started playing more directly, that we began creating more opportunities.

Darwin Nunez was the only other first-team player available off the bench, and he nearly scored late in the game to equalize.

Had there been a wider pool of quality players for the 46-year-old to choose from, we might have had a better chance of winning at Home Park.

Nonetheless, the team selection was significant and suggested that the coach was prioritizing resting his squad ahead of a demanding stretch of five tough Premier League games within 15 days.

If we go on to win the league in May, few will dwell on a loss to Argyle—let’s just hope it doesn’t negatively impact what has been an incredible season so far.