9 months ago
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Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool’s star left back says he’s up to speed and ready to contribute following a pair of substitute appearances.
Following substitute appearances first against Norwich and then Chelsea, Liverpool star left back Andy Robertson feels that he’s back up to speed and ready to play a key part as the Reds push for silverware across four competitions in Jürgen Klopp’s final season in charge of the club.
“It was the longest time I’ve ever been out so it was challenging,” Robertson noted of his return to action. “When you’ve been out that long it takes you a bit of time to get rhythm, but I feel as if I’m there now. Especially this week with a week’s training, I believe I’ll be ready to go from here on in.”
For a player who has never been especially injury prone, missing as much action as Robertson did was a new challenge, one that he found difficult even if he tried to still fill the veteran leadership role and stay involved when he was around his teammates at the AXA training centre.
“There were difficult times where I was maybe in the training ground on my own and frustrated,” he said. “But in front of the lads and in front of all the staff I tried to always keep on the same front and tried to not change as much. I think that was the best way forward for me, to try to stay involved.”
In his absence, Joe Gomez had a career renaissance filling in on the left—albeit in an inverted role to help compensate for footedness—and that will have been heartening for all to see, but there’s no doubt that Robertson is one of the best in the world, and his reuturn will be key to Liverpool’s chances.
“When you come back it’s kind of strange, you don’t know what it’s going to be like,” Robertson added. “Obviously the atmosphere when I came on just reminded me how big a part I am of this club, and it was a nice feeling. I walked off that pitch feeling as if I was back and that was nice.
“Like I said, it was a long time, there were a lot of hard times during that, in terms of the surgery and things like that. And that was what just kept me going: I wanted to get back playing football Then it’s just about trying to get rhythm and, like I said, I believe I’ve got that now and I’m ready to kick on.”
