Ben Doak has provided a boost in his bid for Liverpool selection after returning to first-team training.
At the start of the month, the talented youngster was absent from the Reds' preparations leading to fears he had joined the mounting casualty list at Anfield. After a run in the matchday squad and three straight appearances for Jurgen Klopp's side, his involvement ended abruptly.
Concerns were raised over his absence after he was missing for three weeks following an impressive stint in the squad where he brought a new sense of flair and attractive wide play when he was introduced. He caught the eye with his cameo against Derby County in the Carabao Cup and came off the bench five times following his introduction at Anfield.
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He then provided a disappointing update when he posted "back soon" via his Instagram story. However, on Thursday he was active on social media again this time with a positive message.
Alongside pictures kicking a ball and in discussion with the German head coach, his caption read: "Back working."
"Of course, when you bring on the kids in the second half and you see the pass from Bobby Clark and the whole performance from Stefan, the performance from Mel [Frauendorf] as a right full-back and then Ben Doak comes on, 17 years old, and is this kind of natural force, it's really cool to see," Klopp said after Doak's involvement during their mid-season training camp in Dubai.
"In these 10 days the kids especially, everybody made a real step forward. That's why these things are so important, that we can involve them. And in general, tonight was the result of the last 10 days what we saw in training and tonight we could bring it on the pitch, which is obviously nice.
"It's absolutely cool," he added on the 17-year-old Scot plus Bajcetic and Clark. "I'm not sure the Academy could watch the game tonight but when you see these boys and performing in a game like this, it's cool.
"It's a real physical game, adult football is a physical game and the boys need to make these steps so they can get ready for it step by step."
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