Marko Grujic has explained how recent praise from Jürgen Klopp has given him added incentive to keep working hard for opportunities in the Liverpool first team.

The Serbian was singled out by the boss ahead of making his first start of the season - against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup third round.

Klopp hailed the "big step in development" taken by his young midfielder in the build-up to the tie and was rewarded with a bright performance despite defeat at the King Power Stadium.

Now, Grujic is focused on building on that outing by proving he is ready for further chances in other competitions. 

"It was good to hear. I’ve got to keep believing in myself and keep working hard," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"We’re still playing Champions League, FA Cup and the Premier League, so we will need to show the power of the squad and we will need every player.

“"I had a good pre-season this year, played some games to get ready and have been playing for the U23s. 

"Like every player I hope that I will start more games and hope I can show the manager and everybody else that I’m ready for the biggest games in a Liverpool shirt.

"I’ll hope that’ll I’ll get the chance to start more games."

Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Leicester extended the Reds' winless run in all competitions to four games.

However, Grujic is confident he and his teammates are close to turning a corner and hopes things will start to look up during Saturday's league rematch with the Foxes.

"We played well in the first half at Leicester and had more chances than them. We created a lot but we didn’t score unfortunately," he added.

"We’ve got to keep going, keep creating these chances and the goals will definitely come, hopefully in the next game.

"The season is a long one and we’ll have a lot of games. What’s most important is that we keep faith and hope because we have a really strong team."