The Portuguese winger died in a car accident last summer at the age of 28.
His former Liverpool teammate Andy Robertson said he had “been gutted” throughout the day on Tuesday, before Scotland secured their place in the 2026 World Cup with a thrilling victory over Denmark that night.
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“I couldn’t get my teammate Diogo Jota out of my head today,” Robertson said.
“We talked a lot about going to the World Cup because he missed the last one with Portugal and I with Scotland. I know he will smile at me today.”
Slot said: “I watched the interview (with Robertson) live and I know it’s a problem for us, which is completely normal.
“Right now, I always think, how must he feel about his wife and kids?
“It is much, much, much more difficult for them than for us. But that we will miss the player and the person is completely clear.”
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The Reds have lost four of their last five Premier League games and were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium before the international break.
That defeat left Liverpool eighth in the table, eight points behind league leaders Arsenal, ahead of hosting Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
In last season’s league match against Forest, Jota scored after 22 seconds after coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw.
“Now we play against Nottingham Forest, last season we were 1-0 down and it only took him (Jota) a minute to score the equaliser. So now I’m talking about the player we surely miss,” said Slot.
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“That we also miss him as a person is also clear.”
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, confirmed by Slot, is available again after being out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz are unavailable for Forest’s visit due to unspecified injuries.