Iraola on transfers, Jones' exit and vice captains

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle at St James' Park (kick-off 16:30 BST). Here are the key lines from his news conference: Iraola said he is "excited" for the Premier League's return this weekend and believes he has "good players" who give him a chance to fight for "everything". The Liverpool manager added that, although he would like to add to his squad before the transfer window closes, he "does not spend too much time thinking about it" and instead insisted he will have to "adapt". He said that, although he valued Curtis Jones highly, the midfielder made it clear he wanted to leave Liverpool when the pair held talks during the first week of pre-season. Iraola also backed teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni to step up and be a "valuable" player, should Jones complete a move to Inter Milan. He explained: "I am very happy with Trey. Very, very happy. He has been very good in pre-season. Not only in the games but also when he trains with us and faces top-level players. I have no doubts with Trey. He will be very valuable for us this season and I hope he plays a lot." On the overall state of his squad as the season begins: "We are not at 100%, but I am happy in the sense that I think we are at a level where we can compete, win games and still be a good team. We definitely need to improve. We will improve. We will try to do it as quickly as possible, but there are always processes." Following the departures of Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at the end of last season, Iraola said Liverpool have young players "willing" to take on the minutes and "leadership roles" going into a new era at Anfield. On the importance of keeping Alexander Isak fit, Iraola said: "I think he had a very good World Cup in terms of availability and fitness levels, and I want to keep him there for as long as we can. We know his level and, if we can keep him there, he will score goals and give us a lot." It was also confirmed that Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai will act as vice-captains to Virgil van Dijk this season, though the former is unlikely to wear the armband due to the complexity of Premier League rules allowing only only captains to speak to referees. Iraola offered some insight on an unseen aspect of settling in which relates to working with a new team of performance analysts: "The analyst group is very important at clubs. I have come with one analyst who has helped me integrate into the group. I think we are in a good place, but I want us, just like the team, to improve our working relationships, connections and half-time processes because that is the best way to help the players." Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news . Got a question about Liverpool? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts . [BBC]