Andy Robertson warns rivals that Liverpool players are no longer playing with injuries following winter break
Andy Robertson says several Liverpool players are no longer playing with pain following the winter break.
Jurgen Klopp's side return to Premier League action against last-placed Norwich on Saturday.
The Reds' first-teamers have not played a competitive game since their 4-0 victory over Southampton two weeks ago.
Klopp made the controversial decision to send Liverpool's Under-23s to play in an FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury.
And Robertson says the squad has benefitted from the opportunity to recharge their batteries and shake off niggling injuries.
“For a few of us, definitely," he told the club's official website when asked whether the break had come at a good time. "People were maybe playing with knocks or injuries and it has given them a whole week to kind of clear them up.
“I know mine feels better, I feel closer to 100% in terms of my body, which is always a positive. Being in training pain-free is always a nice thing, which maybe hasn’t happened in a couple of weeks leading up to that.
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“To clear up any of that is a positive, for a week to just let your body recover. Hopefully we now have a strong finish to the season and we can see that the week was beneficial, and hopefully the results follow.
“But even if the worst-case scenario [with results], in terms of injuries it has managed to get some lads back fit, which is so important for us.
“To be honest, my body felt fine. I didn’t feel tired and it wasn’t tiredness. It was more the pain I was playing in at times.
“I pulled out of the Scotland squad in November with an injury and it probably continued on, then I took another knock on it and it probably got worse.
“A lot of us play through pain at times, that’s part and parcel of being a footballer. You need to be out there on a Saturday if you can. Where there’s a will there’s a way. A lot of us have showed that at times.
“For me, it was on my left foot, which is never the best. If it was on my right foot it probably wouldn’t even have been an injury. Being on your strong foot, it’s tough when you’re passing the ball and it’s sending pain up your leg.
“It’s hopefully a thing of the past, there’s been time to clear that up. I don’t feel I needed a rest physically, I felt as if I could still run for 90 minutes and do it at a good level.
“Those stats, I’m happy with them. I like to play games, I get paid to play games and it probably shows I’ve been doing a couple of things right if I’ve played that many games!
“I’m happy with the amount of games I’ve played and hopefully that continues for the next two seasons and so on. But when you get a week off you’ve got to take it.”
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).