Jurgen Klopp's admission about "wonderful" Danny Ings ahead of Liverpool vs Southampton

Jurgen Klopp is delighted by Danny Ings displays for Southampton- but hopes he falters on his return to Merseyside.

Ex-Liverpool striker Ings returns to Anfield on Saturday when Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints face the Premier League leaders.

Ings, who moved to St Mary’s in 2018 on an initial loan deal - turned permanent for £20million last summer - has been in red hot form this term.

The ex-Burnley man has scored 14 goals in the league so far and is set for an England recall in March.

During three injury-hit years, Ings made just 25 appearances for the Reds, scoring four goals.

He suffered a cruciate knee injury in Klopp’s first training session, and spent another nine months on the sidelines in the German’s second season due to more knee surgery.

However, Ings remained a popular figure with teammates and staff at Melwood, and Klopp insists his recent performances have been “wonderful” to view from afar.

"Everybody here in this building is so happy about Danny," Klopp said on Friday. "He is still our boy, we are celebrating goals he scores but that will be different tomorrow.

"Apart from the games against us, we could not wish him better than we do. He is such a wonderful person. We had an intense time together and unfortunately he was not involved in game time and I think going to Southampton was a perfect decision.

"Now he has rhythm back and he is on fire and the whole team is on fire. The turnaround is incredible. We wish him all the best but not tomorrow.

"I came in, October 2015 and Ingsy got injured in the first session, my first session, obviously not a good start and from this moment on people in the medical department worked their socks off.

"He came back and got injured again. Not cool, lot of worries if you have these type of difficult injuries. He is a positive person but in these moments you have ups and downs.

"Seeing him now performing with consistency is just wonderful."