Kostas Tsimikas believes hard work has given him the opportunity to break into Liverpool's first team and put pressure on regular left-back Andy Robertson this season.
Affectionately dubbed the 'Scouse Greek' by supporters, Tsimikas has made 18 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's team this season and featured in the 3-1 victory against Norwich City at Anfield on Saturday - his 14th start of the campaign.
The 25-year-old provided a headed assist for Sadio Mane's acrobatic equaliser and believes that he has improved significantly now that he is competing for a position with such star quality.
READ MORE: Gary Neville reveals what Liverpool did without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane shocked him
READ MORE: Thiago and Fabinho spotted on Liverpool 'scouting mission' at Premier League ground
In an interview with the Liverpool FC matchday programme, he said: “I enjoy life in England and I enjoy life as a Liverpool player a lot. Obviously the first year was not as I hoped and was the most difficult year of my career so far in football.
“Now the second year is going good and I have improved a lot as a player and as a person, I think. I have learned a lot. I have learned to work harder and obviously in the positions here you have the best in the world.
“For me, I have to challenge Robbo (Andy Robertson) and to trying to catch the best gives me an extra boost to be the best. The most important thing is to work hard if you want to achieve your goals.
"I think I have done that all the time I was here and I will do it for the rest of my Liverpool career.”
Tsimikas came close to scoring his first goal for the the Reds against Norwich, arriving at the far post to put an effort over the bar on the stretch, but with the League Cup Final against Chelsea now on the horizon, the former Olympiakos player is hoping to have his first winners medal with the Anfield club by Sunday evening.
He said: “Of course, I am looking forward to going to Wembley. When I first came to Liverpool the first game the team played was the Community Shield against Arsenal at Wembley, so for me this will be the second final with this jersey, with this family.
“I am looking forward to this game and we have to be focused as always and do exactly what we did in the last round against Arsenal – give absolutely everything to win a trophy.
“One of my first goals when I came here was to win a trophy with this team. Hopefully this is going to be a good start to it and we can continue to win more trophies.”
