Georginio Wijnaldum admits losing Sadio Mane is going to be difficult for Liverpool but believes the club are drilled enough to be able to continue to play their style of football without him.
Mane earned Premier League Player of the Month honours for August only to be sent off for a reckless challenge on Manchester City keeper Ederson on September 9.
Leicester 11/4 to beat Liverpool
The attacker was then given a three-match ban for the incident, with Liverpool unsuccessful in their appeal, which means he will miss Saturday’s contest against Burnley along with a League Cup and Premier League double-header away against Leicester City.
When asked by the club website how the team will cope without their star, Wijnaldum admitted it will be difficult, especially since the side is already without Adam Lallana, but that Jurgen Klopp has them trained so that they can overcome losses to the lineup without losing their style.
"It's always a blow if you lose a player," Wijnaldum told Liverpoolfc.com."It was already a blow to lose Adam Lallana at the beginning of the season. Those players are really important for us.
"It's always a blow for a team if important players get injured or suspended. But we're trying to create a base that when another player comes in we still try to play the same way.
"Someone else will fill in his position. We're going to try to play the same as usual.
"We train to not be affected by someone's position, so if someone changes from a position it must not be a problem for another player.
"We're trying to create a good base for the team and the players so when someone else plays you can still play the same way."
GettyThe Mane-less Reds host Burnley on Saturday, a side that became the symbol for Liverpool’s struggles against the bottom half of the Premier League table in 2016-17 after a 2-0 win for Sean Dyche’s side at Turf Moor early in the season.
It was something Wijnaldum conceded was an issue for Liverpool last season and he believes the key will be the side’s belief that they can create chances and goals, even if it is slow going.
"Last season, in a few games we had problems with that," he said of the team's struggles.
"In those kinds of games, you must have the confidence and the faith that you will score and will create chances, even if it's really difficult because they drop deep and defend really well.
"You still need confidence to create chances; against Crystal Palace, we had that and we were lucky we scored at the end of the game.”
Wijnaldum noted if Liverpool get impatient and frustrated as the game goes along, the team end up playing right into the hands of the opposition.
"You need a lot of patience against those kinds of teams. They drop deep and don't give you a lot of space to play football and there aren't a lot of gaps between the lines.
"You need to be ready so when they give you that space you can use it. You have to be really patient. A lot of times that's also the problem - when it doesn't happen quickly, you force things and you make them better."