Following his return to fitness recently after sustaining a hamstring injury, Diogo Jota has been discussing how he’s ready to give his all for the Reds this season.
The Portugal international made his first start of the campaign against Ajax on Tuesday in the Champions League after coming on as a substitute in the Reds’ previous two outings against Napoli and Everton.
Jota, who was signed from Wolves back in 2020, believes his side ‘deserved’ to take all three points against the Dutch outfit at Anfield and saw a ‘massive improvement’ from the dismal display against Napoli last week.
“Our last game was not good enough so it was a big improvement,” the No. 20 told Liverpoolfc.com. “Not perfect, obviously – but a very good game from our side. I think we didn’t deserve the goal we conceded, that’s football. I think we reacted [in] the way that was possible and, in the end, we got the result that we deserved.
“That’s massive improvement from [the] last game. I think we pressed really well the opponent and the first time they went through us they scored – no chances for Ali.
“It’s like a knock but I think even that, it was not easy, maybe it took a few minutes to get used to that, but I think we still create our chances with corners, with free-kicks and we had a few more. In the end we got the goal.”
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The 25-year-old missed Liverpool’s preseason schedule as a result of his injury but he now feels like he’s back upto speed and ready to complete a full 90 minutes.
He was replaced by Darwin Nunez just after the hour mark against Ajax after registering an assist for Mo Salah’s opening goal on the night.
“Yeah, not easy! Especially for me to not have a pre-season,” Jota explained. “Coming back from injury [you] always wish for a different scenario and everything is rolling and we are winning the games comfortably but it is what it is. We need to think and to deal with the situation and I think I did that, and the team did that, so all good.
“It was the first time in my career that happened but we cannot change that. I think I need to do my best from now on. Obviously [the] coach knows that as well. I’ve been playing gradually more and more so I can be ready to play 90 minutes soon.”
Liverpool’s trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Sunday has already been postponed as a result of policing issues in the build up to the Queen’s funeral in London on Monday.
And with the international break following this weekend’s round of fixtures, the Reds are not back in action until next month, something that Jota believes made Tuesday’s victory even more important.
“Today [Ajax] was really important because of that,” he said. “It was kind of our last opportunity to do things right otherwise you needed to wait a long time to play again. So, we did it, job done and now everyone goes kind of different directions but we will soon be all together to go again.”
Brighton visit Anfield on Saturday October 1 and Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that a number of his currently injured players will have returned to fitness by then.
Although it is an honour for many players to represent their respective countries, the international break does provide another opportunity for players to pick up knocks and injuries.
Let’s hope all of our lads return back to Liverpool in full fitness to ensure we can be as competitive as possible before the disruption of domestic football with the Qatar World Cup taking place across November and December.
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