Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he has to drag Roberto Firmino off the training pitch.

For the Reds boss, it is Firmino's huge appetite for football that makes him such a key performer.

“He is a pure footballer — he ­always wants to play and work," said Klopp. “For one session in our training camp in Marbella I took him out. He doesn't rest, so I have to do it for him.

“He is a footballer and he feels best when he is on the pitch. Hopefully it stays like this."

Klopp is happy Firmino has avoided any charge over alleged racial abuse of Everton defender Mason Holgate.

“I was never in doubt about it but if I had been in a situation like that, with somebody thinking I said something, then it would have been difficult for me to deal with it," the manager added.

“That is why I am ­really proud of Roberto — proud of how he dealt with it.

“He knew he didn't say what was alleged. We knew he didn't say it. But we couldn't say it in public. Now it is done. All good."