Jurgen Klopp insists his touchline ban won’t have a negative effect on Liverpool’s bid to catch Manchester United in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

Klopp will be missing from the touchline when Liverpool host Aston Villa on Saturday after he was suspended following his criticism of referee Paul Tierney.

The German received a two-match ban, one of which will not come into effect unless he has another transgression before the end of next season, after questioning Tierney’s integrity when the official was involved in several controversial decisions during Liverpool’s win against Tottenham in April.

“I expected a punishment with all the things we know, and all the things we could hear and stuff like this,” Klopp told reporters on Friday.

“People around me were pretty negative, they thought it would be longer. So, one game is OK.”

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