Joe Gomez was out injured for so long, he forgot he had to wear shinpads when he returned to full training at Melwood!
The talented teenage defender arrived from Charlton in summer 2015, and was so impressive that pre-season, he became a starter under Brendan Rodgers at the beginning of the campaign.
Sadly though the defender picked up a horrendous injury while away on international duty with the England Under-21s, then another this summer – so hasn’t featured in a single Jurgen Klopp match-day squad yet.
He’s returned to action for the Under-23s though and we hope to see him in action at the start of next year when Liverpool will have early FA Cup fixtures to play.
“I forgot my shin pads in the car,” Gomez told the official website. “It didn’t come to my mind because I hadn’t used them for 13 months.
“I just enjoyed being around it again. It was a bonus that I got 45 minutes straight away.
“I’m still very young and I feel like I’ve played in quite a few important games, but in terms of my personal development that was definitely a big game.
“After such a long period out and a lot of time spent thinking about when I was going to play again, when that finally came it was a big moment for me to just play in a game, more so for myself than anything.
“I had a lot of setbacks and a lot of time doubting – when I was going to come back and how I was going to come back. It was important for me to get those minutes in.
“It is the little things, just being involved and like at Middlesbrough on Wednesday, being in the dressing room – even though I wasn’t in the squad, travelling with the team and being in that environment.
“Those little things are big to me. Hopefully, as time goes on, they become more normal again.”
Gomez began life on Merseyside as a makeshift left-back, but is a centre-back by trade and this is the position he’ll hope to eventually find himself in for Liverpool’s first-XI.
He’s technically excellent, rapid and loves stepping out of defence, and if he fulfils his talent, we’ll have a serious player on our hands…