Liverpool under-21s striker Layton Stewart insists he's 'mentally stronger' following a 13-month stint on the sidelines at an early stage of his football career.
Stewart, who has been part of the Reds' academy since the age of seven, suffered an ACL injury in March 2021 against West Ham and spent a year on the sidelines before making his comeback during the Premier League 2 clash with the Hammers in April this year.
With his injury coming at the midpoint of one of his finest goalscoring seasons for the club, as he found the back of the net 17 times for both the under-18s and under-21s, Stewart is hoping to use the 2022/23 season to make up for lost time and force his way into Jurgen Klopp's reckoning.
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“It’s great for me to be back playing again,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “Obviously I was out for such a long time, so it’s just great to get back playing, getting minutes in my legs again and being back around the boys is good for me.
“I feel I am getting sharper in every training session. The more I play, the more minutes I get and the more training I do, I feel like I’m getting better each day. I feel like I’m starting to get into a bit of form and get my rhythm back. Before my injury, I wasn’t that mentally strong, being totally honest.
“When I had a bad game I was always hard on myself but since my injury, I know I’m mentally stronger. I know how to deal with big step-backs and little step-backs and that is helping me in my game.”
On Tuesday evening, the Liverpool-born forward will be handed the opportunity to do just that as the under-21s face Rochdale in their second Papa John's game of the season. After scoring against Salford City in the last round, despite a 2-1 defeat, the 20-year-old will be looking to replicate the same feat at Spotland as Barry Lewtas' side look to claim their first-ever win in the competition.
“It is different because we are playing against senior players, which brings a different challenge," added Stewart when asked about the contrast the competition offers compared to typical academy football. “There’s a crowd there, they are mostly all against you really and it’s a tough challenge against senior players.
“It’s different for the lads and it gives us a different insight into what we need to do if we go out on loan and further our careers. But it is good experience for us all. It was a nice feeling to get a goal against Salford City and hopefully I can do the same against Rochdale and help the lads.
“I thought we did well against Salford City. We created some good chances and I think if the game had carried on a bit longer, we were getting closer to scoring again. When we play in these games we want to give the best account of ourselves and Barry always tells us go out there and play with no fear, give it our all.
“We are quite a young side at U21 level this season but we are all hungry to do well and impress and repay the faith Barry and the staff show in us.”
Stewart and his team-mates could be joined by the experience of Arthur Melo and Nat Phillips on Tuesday evening, with the Brazilian looking to build on the first competitive outing he made for the Reds during Saturday's Premier League 2 victory over Leicester. Fabio Carvalho could also feature after not being called up to Portugal's under-21 squad due to injury
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