Liverpool news: Joe Gomez reveals his frustration at a lack of first team action

Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has spoken of his frustration having lost his place in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI to Joel Matip.

The 22-year-old was a regular at the start of last season but was kept out of action for four months when he broke his leg during a game at Burnley.

And he has since struggled to regain his place, watching as Virgil van Dijk and Matip have established a commanding partnership at the back.

Gomez did feature this week for Liverpool, though, starting as the Reds beat MK Dons in the third round of the Carabao Cup. But he has made clear his aim of breaking back into the first team.

“Obviously it’s been a while for me, so it’s nice to be back out there,” Gomez told the Liverpool Echo. “The competition gave a lot of us the chance to play and get out on the pitch, so it was a good night. It was nice to get a win and a clean sheet.

“I want to be playing, every football player wants to be playing, but at the same time, I understand that we’re European champions, I am at a top club and the lads are doing very well at the minute. All I can do is keep my head down, work hard in training and wait for the right time but I’ve just got to keep it up right now.

“Credit to [Van Dijk and Matip], they are doing unbelievably well, so I understand, but obviously it is frustrating for me at the same time. It is what it is. I’ve got to keep working hard and keep pushing on.”

Gomez reiterated that he can do nothing more than impress in training and hope he is rewarded with more opportunities to play.

“You can’t rest on your laurels and sit there and be down about it,” he added. “You have got to be there every day in training and keep positive because you want to do yourself justice when the time comes.

“If you don’t put in the same practice every day in training with the same attitude you are only doing yourself harm when it comes to your time to play, so I have just got to keep doing that every day, keep working. I’ve got a great set of lads to learn from.

“Obviously Virgil and Joel, me and Dej (Dejan Lovren) keep pushing each other as well. It is part of being at Liverpool.”