'Talented' Jonjo backed to shine
Jordan Henderson believes a loan spell in the Championship could be just the tonic for Jonjo Shelvey as he looks to carve out a career at Anfield.
Henderson is preparing to face Norwich City this weekend, against whom he scored a first professional goal during a loan to Coventry.
He regards his time at the Ricoh Arena as an important stage in his development - and he thinks the same may be true of Shelvey as he gains experience in the Championship with Blackpool.
"It is happy memories (against Norwich)," Henderson told Liverpoolfc.tv. "I've been to their ground three times I think and scored twice.
"It was an important time for me (at Coventry) to go and play first-team football. The lads were brilliant with me there, and the manager as well. I enjoyed my time there and it made me stronger.
"I'm sure Jonjo will be full of confidence when he comes back. It'll be a different experience for him playing first-team football. Jonjo is a talented player and I'm sure if he works hard there he'll come back even better."
Norwich are perched in the top half of the table following a 3-1 victory over Swansea last weekend.
They have also beaten Sunderland and Bolton this term and have a respectable 11 points from eight games despite giving away penalties in each of their first five games.
"They are doing really well," said Henderson. "They did well when they went to Old Trafford as well, so I'm sure it'll be a tough game on Saturday.
"Norwich have shown they're a decent side. We need to go about the game properly and give them respect.
"We've got to do what we know we can do, play football at a high tempo and hopefully we'll get the three points.
Hendo's Olympic hope
"It's a game we need to go into confident of winning, even though Norwich are doing brilliantly. We're not doing too bad ourselves so we need to continue that and put a performance in."
Henderson broke into the England squad last November for a friendly with France, starting in midfield alongside Steven Gerrard.
Despite catching the eye of Fabio Capello he is still representing the U21s as they try to qualify for the European Championships - and he now wears the captain's armband.
"It's a massive honour to captain your country at any level," said the 21-year-old. "It's one that I love to do. I just want to keep playing for the U21s in the European campaign and if the senior call-up comes I'll be over the moon but at the moment I've just got to focus on getting in the Liverpool team and playing well for the U21s."
The role of captain is one he appears to take to naturally, and he won the praise of his teammates last month for staying an extra day to take part in a bonding session which involved him judging their karaoke skills.
So what kind of skipper is he?
"I don't know, you'd have to ask them," said the midfielder. "But it doesn't really change the way I am with other people. I'm just the same, I'll try to help anyone whether it's in a game or training.
"I try to give people confidence if they are new to the squad, but all the lads are brilliant there and have a lot of experience anyway. They know what's expected."