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Liverpool boss Arne Slot says his players should be themselves and follow their emotions as they come to terms with the death of team-mate Diogo Jota.

Portugal forward Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash on 3 July in the Spanish province of Zamora.

The Reds play their first pre-season friendly since Jota’s death at Preston North End at 15:00 BST on Sunday.

In his first interview since Jota’s death, Slot told Liverpool TV: “If we want to laugh, we laugh; if we want to cry, we’re going to cry.

“If they want to train they can train, if they don’t want to train they can not train. But be yourself, don’t think you have to be different than your emotions tell you.

“We will always carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go.”

The funeral of the brothers took place in their hometown of Gondomar last Saturday when a large Liverpool delegation, including Slot, were in attendance.

Liverpool have retired Jota’s number 20 shirt across their men’s, women’s and academy teams in “honour and memory” of the former Wolves forward.

A number of tributes have been planned for the Preston game, including a pre-match rendition of Liverpool’s anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone and a minute’s silence, with both sets of players wearing black armbands.

“Nothing seems to be important if we think of what has happened,” said Slot. “But we are a football club and we need to train and we need to play again, if we want it or not.

“What I’ve said to the players, I can say it here as well. It’s very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate. What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate [for] what we have to say? Can we train again? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there’s a wrong decision?

“And I’ve said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was. And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter if he was talking to me, to his team-mates, to the staff, he was always himself. So let us try to be ourselves as well.”

Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for Liverpool, helping them win the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022 and the Premier League title last season.

He played his final match for Portugal as they beat Spain in the final of the Nations League on 8 June. He scored 14 goals in 49 internationals.

The Guardia Civil told BBC Sport that Jota and his brother died after their car, a Lamborghini, left the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle.

Henry Pollock says he wants the 2025 British and Irish Lions to be remembered as the best Lions team ever – and is targeting a 3-0 Test series whitewash.

The back row scored his first Lions try near the end of their 48-0 win over an Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV in Adelaide on Saturday.

The England tyro marked the achievement with his trademark celebration of holding two fingers to his neck as if to check for signs of life.

The Lions go into the three-match Test series against the Wallabies, which starts in Brisbane on Saturday, on the back of five successive wins in Australia.

“We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever,” said the 20-year-old. “We have been talking about that loads and 3-0 is definitely on the table, hopefully.

“We are all trying to strive to being the best team we can be and get that 3-0 win.”

The versatile Pollock, who only made his England debut in March, is in contention for a place in head coach Andy Farrell’s 23-man Test squad, despite stiff competition for places.

“I am happy to play wherever in the back row, whether that is at six, seven or eight, I will adjust and try my best,” he said.

“If that is me playing or not playing then I will adjust and be the best player I can be.”

The Lions’ last 3-0 series win in Australia was in 1904, while the three most recent three-Test series have all ended 2-1, with the Lions winning in 1989 and 2013, and the Wallabies triumphing in 2001.

Pollock was eight when Owen Farrell went on his first Lions tour – the 2013 series in Australia – and had only just started playing for the minis at Buckingham Swans.

On this tour, Pollock has been rooming with the former England captain, who made the first appearance of his fourth Lions tour in the comfortable win in Adelaide – and has enjoyed learning from the veteran.

“It was good to get chatting to him. He is an amazing player and an amazing person as well,” said Pollock.

“It’s amazing to have him here, and with his experience there is no-one else like him. He has given 100% to the team – he has been on top of everything, which is what you want from him.

Despite having only one international cap, former England scrum-half Danny Care believes Pollock should be included in the squad for the first Test against the Wallabies.

Josh van der Flier, the World Player of the Year in 2022, Wales captain Jac Morgan, the in-form Ben Earl, and Tom Curry – who started all three Lions Tests against South Africa in 2021 – are all in contention for the open-side flanker spot.

However, Pollock’s two starts in Australia have come at number eight against Western Force and at blind-side flanker on Saturday.

Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne, who has captained the side twice in Australia, England’s Ollie Chessum and Curry are all in contention to start at at blind-side flanker, with Jack Conan or Earl the leading contenders to start at number eight.

Pollock’s usual position is open-side flanker, where he is yet to start under Farrell, but his versatility and eye-catching breaks may make his X-factor energy suited to an impact role off the bench.

“Pollock is great for that squad,” Care told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly.

“He’s great for the coverage and for the fans.

“Everyone loves him. If you weren’t an England or Henry Pollock fan before, I think you are now. You can see just how much he loves being out there with the boys.

“He may make an error every now and then, but I think he’s special – a special player who will do special things.

“This series is a lot tougher than the Lions have seen so far. I don’t think the Lions have even scratched the surface of how good this Australian team could be.