Danny Ings is just one of ten players currently on Liverpool’s sidelines with debilitating injuries, but you’d be surprised if there were many working harder than the young Englishman to return as quickly as possible.
The 23-year-old striker ruptured his ACL during Jurgen Klopp’s first training session in charge of Liverpool, just as he’d been called up by Roy Hodgson to the England squad.
The timing was beyond cruel, but Ings’ response has been superb, and judging by these comments, he’s doing everything he can to regain fitness.
“Being here at Liverpool it is going to be important to make sure I’m eating right, sleeping right, taking my vitamins, doing my gym work, icing my knee and resting every day,” he told the Echo.
“Otherwise you are playing catch up. You have to be more dedicated when you are injured because there is more of a mountain to climb to reach the top.
“I think he [Jurgen Klopp] knows he doesn’t have to worry about me slacking off.
Ings was our top scorer of the season with three goals when injury struck, but he’s determined to get himself back in contention for first Liverpool and the England.
“My dream as a child was to play for England and to represent my country and I got that opportunity,” said Ings.
“I had just got my foot in the door and all of sudden it was slammed on my toes.
“But I don’t think that dream is over for me. I am not one of those guys who gets a cap and I am going to fall away now.
“Hopefully when I am fit I can get back in the manager’s thoughts and see where it takes me. He left a voicemail message for me and some texts. It gives me fire in my belly to go again.”
Ings is not expected to get back on the training ground until near the end of the season, so our campaign is going to be already defined, likely, by the time he has a chance to have any more influence on it.
Still, his contributions and work-rate before the injury proves he’s got what it takes to eventually work his way back into Klopp’s plans.