Soccer

    Liverpool news: Harvey Elliott describes return from injury as a 'dream come true'

    Sean FisherSean Fisher7 February 2022
    Harvey Elliott in action for Liverpool during pre-season

    Harvey Elliott in action for Liverpool during pre-season

    After almost five months out with an ankle fracture, Elliott returned to the fold and scored in Liverpool's 3-1 FA Cup win over Cardiff.

    Liverpool booked their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday by beating Cardiff City 3-1, and the Anfield crowd particularly enjoyed seeing young star Harvey Elliott return from a devastating injury.

    The 18-year-old enjoyed a magnificent start to the season, appearing in three of Liverpool's first four Premier League fixtures before suffering a horrific injury against Leeds United.

    While many guessed the injury would rule Elliott out of the 2021/22 season altogether, he recovered well and made his return on Sunday, almost five months since being sidelined.

    Elliott was reintroduced to the Anfield faithful moments before the hour mark, and found the net just 15 minutes later after a superb touch and first-time volley.

    Cardiff scored just four minutes later, making Elliott's finish all the more important when it came to Liverpool reaching the next round.

    Following the match, Elliott was understandably emotional at his remarkable return, but admitted that there's much more hard work ahead of him.

    "It's a dream come true. To come back from a horrible injury like that in quick time and to come here and score in front of the fans, I'm just buzzing," said Elliott.

    "When I came on as a sub, it did bring a little tear to my eye. It was a moment I'll remember and a moment that I can learn from in the future and look back on it and think, 'If I can go through it at such a young age, I can go through anything'.
    "Obviously it's still going to take time to get back into the team. You can see, there's world-class players coming back, in terms of Thiago.
    "There's players still out with Fabinho, and we saw the likes of Curtis Jones, Henderson, Naby Keita as well.
    "There's always competition throughout the team, so to get in it, it's not easy. That's my aim at the end of the day.
    "My focus is there and my targets are there. It's just down to me to take them and make sure I get in the team."

    Elliott's return to the squad will be music to Jurgen Klopp's ears after the German has had to field a makeshift squad in recent weeks with both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah away on international duty.

    Klopp's squad has also been reinforced by the £37.5million signing of Porto's Luis Diaz in January, who made his debut against Cardiff.
    With an abundance of Premier League clashes on the horizon, a League Cup final against Chelsea and the resumption of the Champions League this month, Klopp will be relieved to have fully fit squad for the upcoming fixture congestion.
    "I hate to talk about these kind of things because the next day I get a message saying something is not like it was before, but if they are all fit, we have a good squad," said the Reds boss.
    "We play Thursday against Leicester, we play Sunday against Burnley and then Champions League and all this kind of stuff, so the games are coming really thick and fast and we have to be ready for that.
    "The more players we have fit and available, the better it is, but that doesn't win football games because other teams have good squads as well.
    "So you have then to do the right stuff on the pitch - and that's what we have to do."

    READ MORE: Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp delighted with 'fairytale' goal for Harvey Elliott