Jurgen Klopp believes a "rare positive" of Liverpool's current plight has been the emergence of Stefan Bajcetic in midfield.
The Spanish youth international started his first Premier League game on Saturday in the goalless draw with Chelsea, building on the encouraging performance he gave in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Wolves with another confident display.
Bajcetic, who was signed from Celta Vigo in December 2020, has now made 10 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's senior side and looks set to continue in the match-day squad when the Reds travel to Brighton for the FA Cup fourth round next week.
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Klopp, whose side are now nine points behind Newcastle in fourth, accepts the current situation is far from an ideal one but says it has at least allowed the growth of players like Bajcetic and Harvey Elliott, who started on the left of the front three on Saturday before moving into midfield in the second half.
"There are not a lot of good things about the situation we are in, but obviously that opens doors and gaps and [creates] situations for young players," Klopp said. "That is obviously one of the rare positive things and especially Stefan.
"I am not even sure the door was open but Stefan right through it and he was exceptional in this moment, I think that is clear. We have to be careful with him because he is really young. He got a yellow card and I am not sure it was entirely his fault to be honest (after Thiago's pass) but he was still really good in the game.
"Of course he got tired and every player is a risk when they are on a yellow and they get tired, so we didn't want to take that. But he is doing really well.
"Harvey played the year before for us, so he is a fixed part of this squad so I would say it is slightly different [to Bajcetic] but he is really young and has played a lot of good games. He can play a lot of positions and in our situation that is really important.
"Obviously we lack proper wingers if you like because they are all not available but Harvey can play there in a different way, yes. He usually plays on the right but Mo Salah is there, so these are positives. They are not the only positives but they are easier to see and all the others you have to maybe look a bit harder to find but they are still there."
The scoreless draw was Liverpool's first Premier League clean sheet since the victory over West Ham in October and the manager believes that is something to work with going forward.
"It is massive," Klopp added. "Massive. Directly after the game you cannot forget where we defended in the last second with a block but after tomorrow I won't remember them anymore and it is just a clean sheet, which feels really good.
"There are things we have to build on and that is what we'll do. So the next step is the FA Cup, Brighton; a team we didn't do too well against in the last game. So we will try to do better. It will be interesting."
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