Jurgen Klopp thrilled with Harvey Elliott’s ‘fairytale’ return from injury

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was delighted with Harvey Elliott’s “fairytale” comeback from a serious ankle injury after the teenager scored his first goal for the club in the 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Cardiff.

The 18-year-old marked his return from almost five months out with a fracture dislocation in September with a brilliant swivelled finish in front of the Kop.

It rounded off the scoring for the hosts after Diogo Jota’s 15th of the season was followed by Takumi Minamino’s low drive – set up by new £37.5million signing Luis Diaz, who gave Anfield a glimpse of what he can offer with an encouraging 30-minute cameo on debut.

“Coming on is a great step back and scoring this nice goal is a proper fairytale (for Elliott),” said Klopp, whose side will face Norwich in the last 16.

“He was over the moon and that is properly touching.

“In my mind I had the situation at Leeds when we lost him with the injury but all the way through he was very patient. The medical department did a great job with him.”

Klopp praised the youngster’s attitude, which he believes could be his best quality.

“Probably his biggest talent is how ready mentally he is out there,” he said. “He is a kid, yes, but on the pitch not so much.

“When he got the injury, the next day or two days later I saw him at the training ground and I was in a worse mood than he was.

“He was like, ‘Come on boss, head up, I will be back’. He is an exceptional talent in a lot of departments.”

Klopp was also pleased with Diaz, who marked his first appearance with an assist to add to the 14 goals and five assists he registered for Porto in 18 appearances this season prior to his move last weekend.

And he was relieved to see what initially looked a potentially serious knee