Allen: Why Jordan is my inspiration
As he prepares to make a comeback from injury, Joe Allen reveals how he has been inspired by Jordan Henderson's consistent form in the Liverpool team and why he hopes to follow in his teammate's footsteps.
Allen is targeting a return for the weekend trip to West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Premier League after being sidelined since a substitute appearance against Aston Villa earlier this month.
He cited the impressive form of midfield colleague Henderson this season as something to aspire to and harbours ambitions of replicating the No.14's displays at the heart of the Reds' set-up.
The Welshman told Liverpoolfc.com: "I'm back in training on Friday so, as long as that goes well, hopefully I'll be able to get myself in the squad for the weekend's game.
"It's the biggest frustration in football to get injuries, but I've learned it comes with the territory and I always say that.
"It's just a case of keeping your head down, staying faithful and being ready when you come back and are called upon.
"I'm still developing as a player and I will be for the next few years at least, so my dream is to do that here at Liverpool and my No.1 aim is to get myself into the team and get a consistent run of games between now and the end of the season.
"I look at Jordan Henderson, who has had a fantastic season. He's been consistent and you draw inspiration from that.
"You are going to come under scrutiny and there's going to be criticism and again that's something you learn to deal with, and I think people forget with young players that it's a new thing to deal with. That's something you always get better at with age and hopefully with the run of games I can do something similar."
Allen acknowledged that he has had a lot of support from the man who brought him to Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, and is confident he can play a role in helping to achieve the boss' aims for the season - to be in the top four come May.
He added: "The manager tells me he has faith in me to come back from my injury. It's probably the first time I've had to deal with so many setbacks in such a short amount of time, so it's just a case of working hard.
"Before this last setback I felt I was getting back to the level of performance I know I can produce and I'm confident I can do that between now and the end of the season."
Although the 23-year-old was forced to sit out Tuesday's memorable 4-0 derby win over arch-rivals Everton, the midfielder was quick to praise his teammates and highlighted the emphatic performance produced by a young crop of players.
He said: "It was great. It was a great game, a great atmosphere obviously at Anfield, and what a way to beat our rivals.
"It's massive for mentality. I think people raise a few doubts before those kinds of games, so it was great to answer with that kind of performance and victory against not only your rivals in the city, but also in terms of the position in the table.
"A lot of people termed it a six-pointer and I think as players we agree with that.
"I think it was quite obvious to everyone and you could see in the preparation and build-up to the game how ready everyone was to go out there and get the job done. I'm sure it was a great occasion for the fans.
"Sometimes you forget how young some of the players are in our team; Philippe Coutinho being one of them and obviously the likes of Raheem Sterling as well.
"Jon Flanagan came in after being out injured and put in another great performance, so everyone certainly took on the responsibility and it was a coming-of-age game, I guess, for a lot of people."