Liverpool's current injury problems have added an incentive to win a successive Premier League title this season, according to Andy Robertson.
The Reds star describes seeing what Virgil van Dijk is having to go through after picking up an injury in the Merseyside derby earlier this season as 'horrible' and having to play so many games without other stars like Joe Gomez plus new signings Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota has been tough to take.
However, Robertson is not writing off the prospect of success this season as a result and instead reveals the situation is becoming an extra incentive for the rest of the squad to ensure they are performing as best as they can.
That's down to how close the squad are as a group and how they want to try and provide a reason to be cheerful for those enduring lengthy rehabilitation like Van Dijk and Gomez, by putting in positive performances and getting good results.
Speaking on Jamie Carragher's The Greatest Game podcast he said: "It was horrible to see Virg having to get an operation and be out for so long, it was tough for us of course it was but it was because we're so close - Joe Gomez equally as tough, all the injuries we've had have been really tough to take.
"It's about going out on that park and making Virgil proud, give them something to smile about and the same with Joey, Diogo now, Thiago when he's been out, Kostas (Tsimikas) - everyone.
"It's about the people in the team giving them something to smile about. We know being injured how hard it can be when you're used to going out on the grass everyday, kicking the ball about, playing games, being competitive. Having that taken away is really tough and we know what that's like.
"It's about giving them something to smile about and hopefully we're doing that with our performances and trying to get every result.
"So it's an added incentive for us, we're driven by wanting to be successful, wanting the fans to be happy with us but also the injured lads - we want them to be proud of us so that's obviously an added incentive for us this season."
There'll be no better way to make the current crop of injured Liverpool players proud, than getting a result against Manchester United on Sunday.
