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Liverpool striker Alexander Isak was not ready to play 90 minutes for Sweden on Saturday as it lost 4-1 against Switzerland, but he is expected to feature again on Tuesday for Graham Potter's side.
Sweden is set to face Slovenia in a meaningless game in World Cup qualifying in its second match of the international break. Already confirmed as finishing bottom of its group, the Scandinavians will make the play-offs in March anyway thanks to topping their Nations League standings.
But the game will offer the chance for Isak to get some more minutes in his legs after he came off the bench with half an hour or so to play yesterday. Liverpool then plays Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
"The plan was for Isak to play 30 minutes," Potter said in his post-match press conference. "It wasn't an easy position in the game to get into. Hopefully, we'll see more of him on Tuesday. The plan is for him to play more against Slovenia."
"He's had a good week," Potter had said before the Switzerland game. "He's available, but we have to be smart with him because he's been out for a while. He's not ready to play two matches for 90 minutes. We have to wait and see until tomorrow."
Isak has not played for Liverpool since he picked up a groin injury during the game with Eintracht Frankfurt. He was back on the bench for the trip to Manchester City but wasn't brought on by Arne Slot.
The Reds boss will offer another update on Isak's fitness in his Friday press conference. After Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Liverpool then has PSV in the Champions League midweek, which might be a good time for him to make his first start since returning.
Before the injury, Slot said Isak was at the point in his return to match fitness where he could be judged fairly for his performances. The player arrived at Anfield, of course, having missed the entirety of the summer, forcing through a transfer.
"Fitness-wise, he is close to the level he should be and we can judge him in a fair way from now on," Slot said in mid-October.
"The first five or six weeks, of course we had the player we signed but he was not completely ready. He was getting fitter but he had to do this in a Premier League game.
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"This is not normal for a player. Ideally you would use him earlier in friendly matches but there is no time in the middle of the season for a friendly so we had to build him up playing Premier League and Champions League games.
"You have to be on top of your game to make a difference at this level. You can play at this level if you are 80, 90 or 95 per cent, but to make a difference at the highest level of football you need to be 100 per cent.
"That goes for every player and I think I can safely say he is 100 per cent now."
Liverpool.com says: Isak is a Premier League-proven player and when fit, he should slide into the team more easily than some of the other new signings. A period of games is coming up where he should be eyeing plenty of goals, too, so the Reds will be hoping he can hit the ground running after the international fixtures are over.
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