Jurgen Klopp admits decision to start Sadio Mane over Luis Diaz was due to opposition

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Burnley were the reason why Luis Diaz lost his place in Liverpool 's starting XI.

Sadio Mane replaced the £50million man as the Reds claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win at Turf Moor on Sunday.

Diaz had started the 2-0 victory over Leicester City in midweek and put in a fine performance on his full debut.

But that was not enough to keep the former Porto star in Klopp's lineup to face the Clarets, with the experience of Mane coming to the fore, fresh from Senegal 's Africa Cup of Nations win.

"Sadio played really well. It was not the intention to start him but Diogo [Jota] had a dead leg," the Liverpool manager explained post-match.

"Luis has adapted well but this a different game in the Premier League, but Sadio worked incredibly hard and that is what we expected."

Klopp added: "Burnley is a special place. Come on, let him get settled."

Despite watching from the bench in Lancashire, Diaz is in line for plenty more appearances in a red shirt this month; with four games in three different competitions to come before the end of February, including a Carabao Cup final against Chelsea and the first leg a Champions League last-16 clash with Inter Milan.

The Reds boss was full of praise for the Colombia international's contribution against Leicester, stating: "It was probably one of the best [first games] I've ever seen from a new player.

"That's true, because he looked completely natural but it's only a first game and we have to see how he'll adapt to all of the different stuff and the intensities in the Premier League.

"There's no rush, but last night was a very good opportunity to start him because Sadio was not here yet and Mo [Salah] is coming back from an incredibly intense