(Reuters) - Liverpool defender Andy Robertson is prepared to play through a niggling ankle problem during a busy run of fixtures next month but says he will let manager Juergen Klopp dictate his workload.
The Scotland captain was forced out of this month's Euro 2020 qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan but returned to play the full 90 minutes of Liverpool's Premier League victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
"It has been better to be fair, a bit stiff after matches but it is something I can manage with and something I'm quite happy with," the 25-year-old said of his ankle issue.
"It's slightly painful, but if you don't have any pain in the amount of games we play then you're doing something wrong. All the lads are managing stuff and we're all good... I feel fresh and hopefully that continues."
Liverpool, who host Napoli in the Champions League later on Wednesday, play nine fixtures next month and are set to field two different squads in the League Cup on Dec. 17 and Club World Cup the following day.
Klopp used Robertson as a late substitute in the Champions League match against Genk this month and rested striker Mohamed Salah, who also has an ankle injury, at Palace.
"We all want to play ... but unfortunately sometimes it's not quite possible and people need to step in to tell you otherwise and you need to respect that," Robertson added.
"It's about managing it. It happened with Mo at the weekend. He would have been desperate to play, but for him it was best to have an extra couple of days rest."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)