Harvey Elliott has displayed his ever-improving maturity and team ethic, insisting that the team comes first in his search for more regular playing time.
The 21-year-old has suffered a frustrating season to date, not starting a single game for Liverpool due to injury problems.
Elliott broke his foot on England under-21 duty back in September and only returned to the fold earlier this month.
On Saturday, the midfielder was introduced as a second-half substitute in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at home to Fulham, coming within inches of curling home against his former club.
Speaking to LFCTV, Elliott made it clear that the team comes first, even though he would clearly love to be more of a key man under Arne Slot.
“It’s just about waiting for your time,” Elliott said.
“We’re a squad, we’re a team. Some games you might not be needed and [others], for example like today, players are needed.
“Like Jots, just come back from injury and he got the equaliser. We all have to be ready, we all have to be prepared to come on and impact the game, impact the team.
“We’re all together as one, we’re a squad and we’re going to need everyone.”
Elliott also discussed the never-say-die attitude of this Liverpool side, as they twice came from behind with 10 men to earn a draw on Saturday.
“Coming from behind to get the draw, as much as we want the win, I think we should be proud of ourselves,” he added.
“We could have won it as well but a draw is better than a loss, even though we wanted three points. If we want to go far this season, this is what we need to do.
“When times are tough, we need to show as a team and as a club that we’re going to fight for everything and I think today was a prime example of that.”
Elliott has a tough job on his hands breaking into Liverpool’s strongest XI, given the level of midfield depth at Slot’s disposal.
The boyhood Reds supporter lacks the dynamism of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones, which works against him, but he arguably possesses more guile than any of them.
Elliott’s ability to weave his magic in tight spaces and pick out a pass is a potent weapon, with the youngster completing all three of his long balls in his short cameo on Saturday, per FotMob.
He will know that there is huge competition for places, however, and he will have to bide his time, especially after such a lengthy injury absence.
It’s easy to forget that only Darwin Nunez (54) made more appearances for Liverpool last season than Elliott (53), but it’s now a case of nailing down that precious starting berth more regularly.
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