'You don't need your eye!' How Sadio Mane urged Liverpool hero Roberto Firmino back for clash with PSG

Sadio Mane has revealed that he urged injury doubt Roberto Firmino back into action for Liverpool's 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain by telling his teammate: 'You don't need your eye!'

Firmino had missed out on the Reds' preparations for their first Champions League group game of 2018-19 having sustained a gruesome injury during the weekend's win at Tottenham.

The Brazilian required hospital treatment after being inadvertently poked in the eye by Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen, but proved fit enough to be named as a substitute for last night's visit of PSG.

He subsequently emerged from the bench to net an injury-time winner - and Mane believes he deserves a share of the credit for that contribution.

“I think Bobby doesn't need his eye to play so I told him," the Senegalese said.

"I sent him a message on Monday saying, 'Hey Bobby, come on, we need you.' You've all seen the 'no-look' goals, so I think he doesn't need his eye to play.

"I texted him saying, 'You don't need your eye!'."

Firmino's replacement in the starting XI, Daniel Sturridge, earned praise from Jurgen Klopp for a fine performance that saw him open the scoring in the first half.

Mane was pleased with this particular show of squad strength from the Reds, even if he admitted to not enjoying being rotated out of the team himself from time to time.

“It is normal if you see the high level of all of them. We have to be as professional as we can and try to recover as fast as we can," he continued.

"We also have a great team with many players which is very strong. If I am tired some players will be coming in.

“Sometimes you need [to be rested]. You do not like to rest but sometimes your body tells you you need to rest.

"But the manager is prepared for it and he knows his team more than most so he tries to help us cope with it."

The Senegal international also hailed the 'desire and belief' shown by his teammates in snatching the win so late in the day after Kylian Mbappe looked to have claimed a point for the visitors.

“I think it's a big result honestly. It is very important for us to keep going on our good run," he added.

"It was not an easy game because PSG are one of the best teams in the world but we played very well and deserved to win.

“I think it is about desire and belief, it is what we try to do. We have quality in the team and the team is mentally free to go forward and believe it until the end.

"It is what we tried and finally we scored the third goal, which was very important for the team."