CURTIS JONES SAID Mohamed Salah apologised to his Liverpool teammates after criticising head coach Arne Slot and the club in an interview.

Salah was removed from selection for the 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan last week after he said he no longer had a relationship with Slot and that he has been “thrown under the bus” following the draw away to Leeds.

The Egypt international returned to the squad last weekend after talks with the manager and set up Hugo Ekitike’s second goal in the 2-0 win over Brighton having come off the bench during the first half.

Salah has since departed Merseyside to join up with his national team ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Jones said: “Mo is his own man and he can say his own stuff. He apologised to us and was like, ‘If I’ve affected anybody or made you feel any sort of way, I apologise’. That’s the man that he is.

“I can only speak from me knowing Mo and how he is with us and how he acted on that. He was positive as well.

“He was the exact same Mo, he had a big smile on his face and everybody was exactly the same with him. I guess it’s just part of wanting to be a winner and I don’t think he will be the last.

“I get that there are certain ways you can go about things, but if a lad’s fine to just be on the bench and he doesn’t want to play and help the team, then I think that’s more of an issue.

“When there’s been any sort of anger from us, including myself, it’s always been from a good place. In the moment, it might not have come out in the right way, but it’s never been to affect the team, the staff, the manager, anybody like that.

“We’re past that now and we’re gelling well as a team, playing well and starting to win games.”

Liverpool are five games unbeaten since losing 4-1 at home to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League at Anfield, prompting hope a corner may have been turned in what has been a troubled season.

They travel to north London to play Tottenham on Saturday.