3 days Ago By [email protected] (Paul Gorst)
Harvey Elliott opens up on the 'fluke injury' that has stunted his season under Arne Slot as he aims to start 2025 on the right foot now he is fit once more at Liverpool Harvey Elliott says he is aiming to put the "fluke injury" that has blighted his season behind him in 2025 but accepts it will take time to stake a real claim once more for Premier League table-topping Liverpool. Having emerged as one of the outstanding performers of the Reds' pre-season tour of the United States under new head coach Arne Slot, Elliott suffered a foot fracture in September while on England Under-21 duty, which caused him to sit out around three months of action in total. It was initially hoped the midfielder would miss around six weeks but after making a late substitute appearance in the victory over Brentford on August 25, his next run-out came off the bench in the 2-0 win over Manchester City on December 1, with a return to the match-day squad coming a week earlier at Southampton.
Elliott has yet to start a Premier League game as a result of the setback and admits it was a problem which got worse as it progressed. However, with the issue now behind him, the 21-year-old is only looking ahead to what is shaping up to be an exciting second half of the campaign under Slot. "It was annoying but at the same time these things happen in football," Elliott said, speaking after the 5-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday.
"It was just a fluke injury . I didn't really think anything of it at the start but it just got worse. "But like my other big injury (broken ankle at Leeds United in 2021), it's in the past now.
I've just got to look forward and try and help the team. The team are doing very well in my absence and it's hard to come straight back from injury, it's going to take time. "As I said the team were doing amazing, the way they were playing and the results they were getting was really good.
I knew that within myself and it's about me staying patient and waiting for my turn. "I feel fine. I got through the Southampton game, played 90 minutes and felt very comfortable.
It's just about trying to find minutes where I can now, and building up myself. "And more importantly trying to help the team, I take that responsibility upon myself because of the type of player I am. I want to help my team whenever I can.
" On the victory at the London Stadium itself, Elliott added: "You know we've had the run of results recently. "We've won a fair few games, some games have been harder than others but I think the way we've conducted ourselves and the professionalism within the team, to go out and get the job done, in a tough period when there's so many games, has been very good. "The lads have coped very well and we just have to keep showing it now.
What's our secret this season? I think it's a bit of everything. You could say it's some luck, you could say the way we prepare and perform when it matters, the fight and the determination. "The most important thing is we keep going out and playing the way we're playing.
That's all we can do. We can't really focus on anyone else, just ourselves, take each game as it comes, make sure we are recovered, just be ready to keep going out and playing.".
