Slot handed run-in boost as Reds eye Isak return to action by end of March

ALEXANDER ISAK could be back in action for Liverpool by the end of next month with Reds boss Arne Slot convinced the striker can start justifying his £125million price tag this season.

- By IAN DOYLE

Reds striker Alexander Isak has not played since late December

Isak has been absent since sustaining an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture when caught by Micky van de Ven in the process of scoring the opener in Liverpool's 2-1 Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur shortly before Christmas.

The Sweden international has suffered a difficult campaign since his British record move from Newcastle United at the start of September, first hampered by a lack of preseason and then a groin problem that meant he had scored only three goals in 17 appearances before his most recent injury setback.

Liverpool released photographs last week of Isak having stepped up his rehabilitation, doing some ball work inside the gym at the AXA Training Centre.

And now Slot has detailed another major step in the 26-year-old's recovery.