Curtis Jones is looking to make up for lost time for Liverpool having missed the majority of the season so far.
The England Under-21s international made his return from injury as a substitute against West Ham United last week, having not played since the Community Shield win over Man City back in July because of a bone injury. He has since started against Nottingham Forest before coming on in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Ajax.
It has been a disappointing season so far for the Reds, with them ultimately struggling for consistency after seeing their squad decimated by injury. But Jones is determined to help reverse Liverpool’ s fortunes as he looks to nail down a place in Jurgen Klopp ’s starting XI.
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“It’s not a thing I sulk about anymore,” the 21-year-old said about not starting games. “I know that I play a role in the team and when I’m back to my best I know that it will be a bigger role.
“But at the same time you have to give credit to the lads who are in the team now, who are doing well. I have to just wait and when the chance comes, I’ve got to take the chance and keep my shirt.
“The manager and his staff can pick a team and the fans may say it’s a strong team or they might say, ‘He hasn’t played for a while and he’s come in so he can make the team weaker’, but at the end of the day it is on us.
“He picks his team so it’s down to us to go out there and perform. Of course, it depends on the type of game. If it’s a cup game he might tweak his team a bit, young kids come into the side and they know that they have a huge role to play because they are part of the team.
“Then if we are coming across a Champions League side or a Premier League side, then it’s on the ones that are classed as the ‘bigger’ players to take it upon themselves and show what they are capable of doing.
“And for players like myself that are coming in from being out for a while [and] seeing the team in, I wouldn’t call it a struggle but a bit of a dip, it’s to try to come in and help the team find their 100 per cent perfect form. So, we all have our roles and we’re definitely there for that.”
Meanwhile, Jones admitted he’s not yet fully match fit when reflecting on his frustrating spell on the sidelines through injury. And while he still doesn’t know what caused the setback, the midfielder is just glad to be back playing again.
“It was (frustrating) of course,” he told the club website. “It was a bone injury and if you get a bone injury it’s always from a bad tackle or something like that but it wasn’t, they (the medical team) said it was from a stress response.
“I don’t know what it was from, [maybe] a bad pitch or an overload of things. So, it was unusual but it’s fine now. I’m back, I’m playing, I’m happy and I’m smiling again, so happy days.
“Fitness-wise, I wouldn’t say I am 100 per cent yet but I’m definitely almost there. I was out for 10 weeks. I’ve done all my recovery stuff and fitness stuff but it’s never the same as a game so I’m just taking it each game at a time and then hopefully I’ll be back to 100 per cent soon.”
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