Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has explained the inspiration behind his return to form after firing two goals for Liverpool in their 4-1 away Champions League victory over Genk.
The 26-year-old was making his first appearance in the competition since sustaining a serious knee injury against Roma in April 2016.
He opened the scoring after two minutes before adding a second with an exquisite finish as Jurgen Klopp's side collected all three points.
“I’ve definitely missed it,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told BT Sport. “It’s nice to be back out there. It’s a special tournament to play in, a competition we all grew up wanting to play in one day.
“It was nice to be back out there [after] seeing the boys do so well in it last year. I was fortunate enough to get back involved on the bench for the big day in the final and watch the boys bring it home.
“It’s inspirational, it’s something I’ve wanted to get back to do. It’s just nice to be back in the starting line-up and try to put in a performance to help the team. To get a few goals was a bonus.”
Reds team-mate James Milner admits he's pleased to see Oxlade-Chamberlain back in action after his lengthy injury lay-off.
He explained: “Everyone will be delighted for him. The things that people don't see are behind the scenes at the training ground, the long hours put in and the time in the gym and treatment room spent on their own.
“I think that goal was coming. He had a couple of sighters at Old Trafford, just getting his range right and we want him to be positive when he is in there. He's got a great strike on him and he's great in those pockets with his dribbling ability.
“It's great to have him back and another option for us in that midfield where there is great competition for places.”
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah also scored for the Reds on a positive night but Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted that his side can still improve in the competition.
“The first half, we got a bit sloppy and we’ve got to do a lot better than that if we want to go further in this competition,” the midfielder added.
“Second half, it was quite mature and we controlled the game. We’re disappointed to concede but it was a good night all round really.”
Liverpool now face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday and the England international knows that Klopp will have the side working to improve ahead of the clash.
“We can take confidence from the whole season, not just this game.
“We had a lot to improve on from the game at the weekend, same again tonight. But at the minute we’re getting results which are good and we can still improve. We’ll take a lot from this game.
“I’m sure the manager has got a lot of points he’ll be getting at us about to improve for the weekend, because we’re going need to get them right to put on a good performance and get the right result at the weekend.”
