It’s been a long road to recovery from injury, now Ings is doing all he can to knock on the door of the first team.
Liverpool’s Danny Ings in action with Derby’s Cyrus Christie
Danny Ings has shown an awful lot of patience at Liverpool over the past year or so, and he will hope to reap the rewards in the near future.
Ever since injuring his ACL during his first training session under Jürgen Klopp there must have been the element of frustration on not being able to build on his promising start to his Liverpool career. He seemed to win over many of the fans for his hard work and three goals prior to his injury.
Liverpool’s Danny Ings scores their first goal
He’s made just the two substitute appearances for the Reds since his recovery but is getting regular game time at under-23 level, and in behind closed door friendlies.
Now, it’s feasible he’s knocking on the door for a chance in the first team. He scored twice at the weekend in a 5-0 win over Bradford City in a friendly played behind closed doors, as Klopp looks to keep his players who are at the club during the international break sharp.
He’s featured in three under-23 games so far this season and scored in every one – making it four goals in three games, and made one cameo appearance for the first team as the Reds strolled past Derby in the EFL Cup.
Regardless of the level he is currently playing at, Liverpool have a forward on their hands in pretty good goalscoring form. The trouble for him is that he is trying to get into a side that has scored the joint highest total of goals in the Premier League so far this season. But they are coming from all areas of the team.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp after the match with Danny Ings
Neither Daniel Sturridge or Divock Origi have found the net in the league this season – while the usual trio of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino seem to be sharing the goalscoring burden, along with others.
One wonders what the plan is for him this season. Could Klopp be trying to get his forwards to peak at different parts of the campaign to ensure his side remains firing on all cylinders and the burden is shared equally?
Another League Cup tie is not far away when the Reds host Tottenham towards the end of the month for a place in the quarter-finals, while Ings may be the kind of player needed in a run of games coming up where sides are that bit more difficult to break down.
It’s hard to knock his attitude, which so far seems exemplary as he has kept his head down, scoring goals and sending messages to his manager in the right way. There’s a long way to go this season, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him start to feature as things go on.
Danny Ings celebrates scoring the first goal for Liverpool
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