Harvey Elliott hails ‘dream’ goalscoring return in battle to make Liverpool team

Liverpool forward Harvey Elliott admits his goalscoring return from injury was a dream come true but he knows there is no easy path back into the team.

His 32-minute substitute cameo – after almost five months out with an horrific fracture dislocation of his left ankle – saw him open his account for the club in Sunday’s 3-1 FA Cup win over Cardiff.

At the beginning of the campaign, the 18-year-old surprisingly started three of the opening four Premier League matches after impressing manager Jurgen Klopp in pre-season, only for his progress to be cruelly halted an hour into a game at Leeds.

It has been a long way back through months of rehabilitation but he rejoins the squad at a time when arguably it is at the strongest it has been in Klopp’s six years in charge.

The £37.5million January arrival of Colombia international Luis Diaz has increased competition up front and, with African Cup of Nations champion Sadio Mane and beaten finalist Mohamed Salah set to return this week, and a fully-fit squad for the first time in a long while, first-team slots are at a premium.

So while Elliott could enjoy scoring in front of the Kop, he is well aware the hard work is far from over.

“It’s a dream come true. To come back from a horrible injury like that in quick time and to come here and score in front of the fans, I’m just buzzing,” he told liverpoolfc.com.

“When I came on as a sub, it did bring a little tear to my eye. It was a moment I’ll remember and a moment that I can learn from in the future and look back on it and think, ‘If I can go through it at such a young age, I can go through anything’.

“Obviously it’s still going to take time to get back into the team. You can see, there’s world-class players coming back, in terms of