Salah apologised to Liverpool teammates after 'thrown under the bus' rant, Curtis Jones reveals

Mohamed Salah apologised to his Liverpool team-mates after his infamous 'thrown under the bus' rant, Curtis Jones has revealed. In an interview following Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Leeds United two weeks earlier, Salah, who had been left on the bench at Elland Road, claimed he had been 'thrown under the bus' by the club and suggested he had no relationship with Reds manager Arne Slot. He was subsequently left out of Liverpool's squad for their win at Inter Milan before being reinstated last weekend against Brighton, where he impressed after coming off the bench in the 2-0 win. Jones has now shed further light on the situation and explained Salah addressed his outburst with team-mates.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Jones said, "Mo is his own man and he can say his own stuff. He apologised to us and was like, 'If I've affected anybody or made you feel any sort of way, I apologise'. That's the man that he is." Jones also insisted that the squad are fully behind Salah, and said the Egyptian's rant came from a good place. "He was the exact same Mo, he had a big smile on his face and everybody was exactly the same with him. I guess it's just part of wanting to be a winner and I don't think he will be the last." He added: "If a lad's fine to just be on the bench and he doesn't want to play and help the team, then I think that's more of an issue. When there's been any sort of anger from us, including myself, it's always been from a good place. In the moment, it might not have come out in the right way, but it's never been to affect the team, the staff, the manager, anybody like that. We're past that now and we're gelling well as a team, playing well and starting to win games."

During Salah's Leeds outburst, he claimed he had been left on the bench for 90 minutes and said he was disappointed to be overlooked for a third time in a row. "I could not believe. I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. That’s the third time. It’s the first time in my career I think. I’m very disappointed, I have done so much for this club over the years, especially last season. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel."

The forward also suggested his relationship with Slot had worsened, saying: "Someone wants me to get all the blame. The club promised me a lot in summer. Now I’m on the bench so I can say they haven’t kept those promises. I used to have a good relationship (with manager Slot). Now we don’t have any relationship and I don't know why." Nevertheless, Salah's return to the squad for the Brighton clash came after a meeting with Slot, and the Dutchman said afterwards that he had "no issue to resolve" with the forward, who headed off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt earlier in the week.

Speaking on Friday ahead of Liverpool's clash at Tottenham, Slot insisted his side have now fully moved on from the saga. He said: "Actions speak louder than words and we moved on, he was in the squad and the first sub I made. But now he is at the Africa Cup of Nations playing big games for himself and also the country so I think it is fair to them and also to us that all the focus is for him over there. And there should not be any distraction from me. We have moved on after the Leeds interview and he played against Brighton. So it is fair for us to talk about Tottenham (who Liverpool play on Saturday)."