It has been a season defined by injury so far for Harvey Elliott, and Liverpool’s staff made certain he was fully fit to return after 14 games on the sidelines.
Elliott has featured for just 33 minutes under Arne Slot after he fractured his foot in training with England U21s in the season’s first international break.
He watched 14 games from the sidelines and then a further two from the bench before marking his return with a late cameo against Man City, with further minutes against Girona (14) and Fulham (11).
It has been a long process to get back on the pitch and Elliott has now explained that the coaching staff were right not to throw him back into the team “as quick as possible.”
“I feel fit. I feel 100 percent, it’s just taking a bit of time. As it does after every injury,” Elliott told the club’s website before the trip to Southampton.
“I wasn’t really quite there as much as I thought in my head that I was and the coaching staff and the manager could see that, and I think it was a mature decision to keep me part of it but not throw me in as quick as possible and I feel like it’s helped me now.
“It’s built me up and I am hungrier than ever to get back out on the pitch and to help my team, to help the club, and I feel like now I am in a position where I feel 100 percent again and now I’m just raring to go.”
It has been a frustrating start to the campaign for the 21-year-old, but he is eager not to allow that to dictate how he performs when given the opportunity by Slot.
Asked if he’s desperate to make up for lost time, he said: “I wouldn’t say ‘desperate’ because I feel like that’s when you’ll start going off the rails a little bit.
“I feel like it’s just for me to go out and just enjoy my football again.
“I don’t want to put pressure on myself because last season and the seasons before when I was playing a fair amount I never did that, so for me to do that now because I’ve been out for a long time would be wrong.
“I just want to go out, enjoy putting on the kit again, walking out and hopefully putting in a good performance.
“We are there to win and that’s the priority really: it’s not about me, it’s about the team and however I can help I’m going to do so.
“The most important thing, as I’ve said, is making sure we try to win.”
Of Slot’s senior players, Elliott has played the fewest minutes but the relentless schedule ahead will certainly present the 21-year-old with chances to make an impact.
