Arne Slot has paid an emotional tribute to Diogo Jota ahead of Liverpool’s return to action.
The Reds travel to Deepdale on Sunday to face Championship side Preston.
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It marks their first match since Jota’s tragic death on July 3 aged 28.
Liverpool have since retired the Portuguese’s number 20 shirt as a sign of respect to the forward and his family.
Meanwhile, members of the first-team squad paid an emotional visit to Anfield this week to pay their respects with his family.
Reds boss Slot has now shared his own tribute to the Premier League title winner in an interview with the club’s website.
Reflecting on the loss and the response of the players, he said: “First of all, it had a lot of impact on us but nothing compared to the loss that is felt by his parents, his wife Rute and his children and his other family.
“The first feeling we all have is of sadness. The second feeling that comes to my mind is pride. I think his parents and Rute can be so proud of the player and the person he was – mainly the person.
“I’ve spoken to many of his teammates, I’ve spoken to many staff members, and they all rate him so high and all say how nice of a person he was. That he was always himself.
“So they should and will be very proud if they could hear what all his teammates and all the staff members would say about him.
“Second of all, I think our fans can be so proud about the players we have at this club.
“They’ve seen them winning the league, that was a great achievement, but what they did in the last week with the togetherness they had, how they conducted themselves when we were in Portugal together, the fans couldn’t have asked for more from our players when it comes to how great human beings they are.
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“Those are the two emotions. Of course, the first emotion of sadness is much stronger than the one of being proud. But it’s the both of them.”
Asked for his overriding memory of Jota, Slot explained: “I’ve only worked with him for a season and in that season he has been so important for me, for the club, for the fans, for his teammates in difficult moments.
“So, I can come up with the Everton goal, I can come up with some other goals – Fulham when we were down to 10.
“Even the last game we played against Crystal Palace when we were down to 10 and 1-0 down, he came in and took the ball in our own half, led to us scoring the 1-1. That is the football player that is in my mind.
“But I think what I take comfort in [is that] in the last month of his life he was a champion in everything.
“A champion for his family, which is the main and most important thing, because he got married.
“A champion for his country because he won the Nations League, [with] a country that he cared about so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations.
“And of course a champion for us by winning the Premier League.”
Jota scored nine goals and provided four assists in 37 appearances in all competitions under Slot.
Those goal involvements helped Liverpool reach the Carabao Cup final and win their 20th league title last term.
And Slot believes one action in particular summed up the kind of person Jota was.
He added: “He was the player in our team I would say that mainly with him it was all about the team.
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“And not only the players; also, like I said, the staff. If we want to go through this period we need to do this together.
“You’ll know this because you told me – he selected a photo after we won the league against Tottenham and he wanted to have that photo in his house. He decided not to take one of himself, he decided to take one with us as the whole group, the whole staff in front of our fans.
“That probably tells us as a team and everyone around the world how much of a team player he was.”
