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In the previous two games, Salah, 33, has only scored four goals and only played 45 minutes for Liverpool.

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract in April, is still wanted by the Saudi Pro League, according to sources who spoke to BBC Sport.

“Mo is an exceptional player for us,” Slot said on Friday, “I believe every player in my mind can start.”

He’s always ready to start or leave the bench, according to my mind.

In Slot’s first season as manager, last campaign, Salah scored 29 goals to win the title.

However, he was a substitute for Liverpool’s 1-1 home draw against Sunderland on Wednesday when the club resumed its winning ways at West Ham last Sunday and started from the bench again.

For Saturday’s game against Leeds United (17:30 GMT), it is still to be seen if Salah will start.

When asked if he understood Salah’s discussion after being fired, Slot responded, “Yes because he deserves it, he has been so important to me for six or seven years.

When he isn’t playing, it’s completely normal that people discuss it.

Before entering a new deal with Liverpool that runs until 2027, Salah had strong ties to Al-Ittihad.

Salah has made 420 starts for Liverpool across all divisions since joining the Reds in 2017. He has already scored 250 goals.

This week, Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk claimed that Salah’s decision to leave the club serves as proof that no-one has “unlimitable credit” at the club.

Van Dijk said after the Sunderland draw that “he is still a fantastic player and we still have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club.”

As one of the leaders, I need him around. I’m not concerned. He is disappointed, which is perfectly normal since he is also disappointed when they don’t play two games in a row.

No-one is undroppable, as has always been the case. Everyone has to perform, not like you have unlimited credit.

In the previous two games, Salah, 33, has only scored four goals and only played 45 minutes for Liverpool.

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract in April, is still wanted by the Saudi Pro League, according to sources who spoke to BBC Sport.

“Mo is an exceptional player for us,” Slot said on Friday, “I believe every player in my mind can start.”

He’s always ready to start or leave the bench, according to my mind.

In Slot’s first season as manager, last campaign, Salah scored 29 goals to win the title.

However, he was a substitute for Liverpool’s 1-1 home draw against Sunderland on Wednesday when the club resumed its winning ways at West Ham last Sunday and started from the bench again.

For Saturday’s game against Leeds United (17:30 GMT), it is still to be seen if Salah will start.

When asked if he understood Salah’s discussion after being fired, Slot responded, “Yes because he deserves it, he has been so important to me for six or seven years.

When he isn’t playing, it’s completely normal that people discuss it.

Before entering a new deal with Liverpool that runs until 2027, Salah had strong ties to Al-Ittihad.

Salah has made 420 starts for Liverpool across all divisions since joining the Reds in 2017. He has already scored 250 goals.

This week, Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk claimed that Salah’s decision to leave the club serves as proof that no-one has “unlimitable credit” at the club.

Van Dijk said after the Sunderland draw that “he is still a fantastic player and we still have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club.”

As one of the leaders, I need him around. I’m not concerned. He is disappointed, which is perfectly normal since he is also disappointed when they don’t play two games in a row.

No-one is undroppable, as has always been the case. Everyone has to perform, not like you have unlimited credit.

Performances like Chris Duncan’s gutsy win over Mateusz Rebecki four months ago can define a fighter.

In a brutal back-and-forth battle, which left both fighters bloodied and battered, it was Scotland’s Duncan who got his hand raised in a fight-of-the-year contender.

Fans and pundits praised Duncan for the grit and determination he showed, while Duncan says even his coaching team were surprised by the level of his performance.

“My training partner Robert Whiteford – I don’t think he knew I was capable of that and he sung my praises after,” Duncan told BBC Sport.

Duncan, however, was not surprised by his showing.

He knew what he was capable of because the trauma he experienced as an amateur fighter built the resilience he would need to overcome life’s toughest challenges.

On 18 April 2014, a day before Duncan’s amateur debut, his mother Elaine was murdered by her boyfriend James Morley, who was jailed for life for the crime.

“I still went ahead with the fight the following day. A lot of people would have pulled out in that moment,” said Duncan.

“I won the fight, and I remember standing in the club after with a couple of bottles of beer. I was a shepherd at the time, and I was like ‘this life isn’t for me any more’.

Duncan says the consistency of MMA training – a two-hour morning session followed by two hours in the evening – allowed him to come to peace with what had happened.

Now he is able to use the grief he experienced to his advantage in overcoming adversity in the octagon.

“My past has not been the greatest and that’s built the resilience I needed for that fight,” said Duncan.

“Not a lot of people went through what I went through as a youngster – and that’s what’s built me into the person and character I am today.”

On Saturday at UFC 323 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Duncan faces his next challenge when he takes on American lightweight Terrance McKinney.

Despite proving his durability in the bruising encounter with Rebecki, Duncan is not hoping for a similar fight against McKinney.

“I would like to go in there and in two seconds the bell rings, and I hit him with a right hand and he falls over. That would be fantastic,” said Duncan.

“It’s not often I say this but I’m proud of what I’ve done this camp. I said that to my girlfriend two days ago.

Following Paul Craig’s retirement in September, Duncan is arguably Scotland’s most accomplished fighter in the UFC.

He has won five of his six fights since debuting in 2023, and is targeting a spot in the top 15 of the promotion’s lightweight rankings, should he beat McKinney convincingly.

The fight comes weeks after the men’s football team qualified for the World Cup in dramatic style against Denmark last month.

In the first half, midfielder Scott McTominay put Scotland ahead with a spectacular overhead kick.

The result sparked elation among football fans in the country – something which Duncan hopes he can replicate in the future from a sporting perspective.

“I don’t watch football but I saw Scotland won. If I could do an overhead kick and knock someone out that would be fantastic,” he joked.

“MMA is such a young sport right now, we haven’t got the eyes on it in Scotland – not everyone knows about it, but it’s coming. And I’m going to be the guy leading the way.

“When Scotland do come together, like in a World Cup game, we do come arm in arm. If I could get the whole of Scotland behind me it would be absolutely amazing.”