Liverpool Forward Sadio Mane is set to miss the last seven games of the season with a knee injury.

Jurgen Klopp said he was “pretty sure” Sadio Mane needed surgery, leaving it “pretty much impossible for him to play again this season”.

The £34m signing from Southampton has started all but five of Liverpool’s league games this campaign.

Of those, three were drawn and two were lost. The Reds are third in the Premier League table with seven games left.

Klopp also said Adam Lallana was “much better but is not in training” as the midfielder continues his recovery from a thigh injury suffered on England duty in March.

The Brazil international was substituted midway through the second half at Anfield after vomiting at half-time and has not yet returned to training.

“Phil is still ill and was not at Melwood yesterday and he will not be here today,” Klopp said.

“He had a conversation with the doc and he feels much better, but it doesn’t look too good. We will have to see if we [can] bring him in tomorrow.

“We will give him all the time he needs, but it will be really close.”

Liverpool will be without the injured Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana for the trip to Stoke.

Captain Jordan Henderson, who has been out since February, is “in a good way, but I don’t know when he can be part of training again”, the German added.

The home team are 12th in the Premier League after a disappointing recent run and Klopp said: “They have maybe not had the best results in the last few games, but they’re good and always a difficult team to play.

“Stoke is not an easy place to go, and everybody knows about this. The style of play should be pretty clear, and it’s a good football-playing side.

Mane’s Instagram post on Thursday