Christian Benteke has declared himself fit to return to the Liverpool squad for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea.
The Belgium striker sat out Wednesday’s Capital One Cup win over Bournemouth at Anfield, three days after scoring in the 1-1 league draw with Southampton having entered the fray as a half-time substitute.
Injury problems have restricted Benteke to eight appearances in all competitions this season but the £32.5m signing from Aston Villa is hopeful his problems are behind him.
“I’m good. I just felt something during the game against Southampton last week. Now it’s behind me and I’m looking forward to the Chelsea game,” Benteke told liverpoolfc.com.
“It was a bit hard for me during the transfer window – I didn’t really have a normal pre-season. Now I’m trying to get back to my old level.
“Injuries are part of football but I’m trying to do everything I can to be fit for the rest of the season and to play every game. I try to stay as long as possible [at Melwood] to be really fully fit.”
Benteke watched from the stands on Wednesday and was impressed with the fringe players given a chance to shine by manager Jurgen Klopp.
“I wasn’t on the pitch and I wasn’t the only one, but you could see that everyone was happy with how we played,” he added.
“You could see the atmosphere of the team change and you could see it on the pitch. Everyone wants to do their best for the manager, the fans and themselves.”
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