Mohamed Salah RETURNS to Liverpool training for the first time

Liverpool welcomed Mohamed Salah back to first team training for the first time since he sustained a posterior muscle injury in Egypt's unsuccessful Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

The 31-year-old limped off in the closing stages of the group stage match last month, with his subsequent recovery plan causing a major stir back home.

The decision was taken for Salah to undergo his rehabilitation back at Kirby, with the plan to return to the nation's camp should the Pharaohs make it to the final stages of the competition in the Ivory Coast.

As things transpired, the seven-time winners crashed out of tournament - having only narrowly made it through the first round - in the last-16 to DR Congo on penalties.

Salah has continued his recovery in Liverpool and made his first appearance on the training ground on Tuesday ahead of the Premier League trip to Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

The forward looked in good spirits as he joined his teammates, who, despite losing to Arsenal earlier this month, have maintained their bid to secure four trophies this season in his absence.

Salah's last game for the Reds came in a 4-2 victory against Newcastle on New Years Day, in which he starred with a brace and an assist.

Since then, Jurgen Klopp's side have advanced to the final of the Carabao Cup, after beating Fulham 3-2 across two legs, and secured safe passage into the FA Cup fifth round with wins against the Gunners and Norwich.

The league form has also been impressive with three wins, though they did suffer a bruising 3-1 defeat to Mikel Arteta's side which cut their lead at the top over the north Londoners and Manchester City to two points.

Pep Guardiola's team do have a game in hand on the Merseyside club. Still, the likes of Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and particularly Diogo Jota have stood up in his absence, with the Portuguese striker finding the net five times while Salah has been away.

Reds fans will eagerly await news of whether their star man will start against the Bees but they can be rest assured he is likely to feature in one way or another.