NewsHugo Ekitike interview: 'Football is my passion - I do everything I can to be fit and available'
Hugo Ekitike intends to embrace the challenge of Liverpool's busy schedule in January.
The second of the Reds' nine fixtures in the month takes them to Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The encounter with Marco Silva's men at Craven Cottage follows hot on the heels of the goalless draw with Leeds United on New Year's Day.
Ekitike and his teammates are relishing the opportunity to get back to winning ways so soon, as the Frenchman explained in an interview with Liverpoolfc.com ahead of the game.
Read on for the chat in full...
Hugo, Fulham away has proven to be a tough place to go this season...
It's a good team. They have great players but I think maybe some have gone to AFCON. It's going to be a tough game for us but we're going to work and we will be ready.
It's a tough schedule in the UK around Christmas, with one game finishing and another to play three days later. How are you finding it at the moment?
It was obviously special to play [around] Christmas and the next day after New Year. It's really exciting. I was in a position when I was watching on TV, so being here and able to play that kind of game is a blessing. Now we're going back to a busy, busy period, a lot of games in this month of January, but it's up to us to be fit, recover well after every game and be ready for the next one all the time.
We're seeing videos of you in your garage at home, keeping the ball up and stuff like that to keep your body right. It seems like you can't get enough of football...
Obviously it's part of my job, our job. Football is my passion, so I do everything well and 100 per cent of things I can do to be fit and able to play every game. But for me, it's not even work, it's my passion. I love doing that and that's what we need to do.
The unbeaten run has gone on but there'll obviously be frustration at not winning the game against Leeds...
It was a difficult game to face, a difficult team to face. They were playing a low block, not much ball and we [had] to create chances. But it's a lesson. We need to take the good things of this game and go to Fulham and show that we are always able to get better. We didn't win but we didn't lose, so it's up to us to look forward and go to the next game and win.
That was important, wasn't it? To carry on the unbeaten run after the tough period...
Obviously it was a tough period for us but we just stick together, try to work. Obviously now it's a bit better but I can't say it's the best because we have had a few draws in the last series. But I think the most important [thing] when you play here is to win, so we can't be happy.
Finally, it's 11 goals for you already this season. You would obviously like to have Alexander Isak in the squad and available, but are you enjoying the responsibility of having to play continually?
Obviously that kind of thing happened and I was very sorry for him because it's not funny when you come to a new club and get injured with that kind of injury – it's difficult. But for me, I try to do my job. The coach puts me on the pitch and I'll show him and show the fans that I can help the team. It doesn't matter if I score, if I give assists, the most important [thing] for me is to win.