Jordan Henderson has praised the 'o

Jordan Henderson has praised the 'outstanding' work of his teammates in his absence and says it is now up to him to help Liverpool's good run continue.

The midfielder was substituted just 52 minutes into the Reds' second game of the season - a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield - with persistent heel pain forcing his withdrawal.

Henderson was originally scheduled to return from that problem in September, but suffered a cruel setback in the form of a metatarsal injury picked up in training.

A lengthy recovery process has followed, but the captain's return to full fitness was rewarded with substitute appearances in wins over Swansea and Southampton over the past week.

And he is now out to establish himself in a team that has won seven of its last eight outings in all competitions.

"The lads have been outstanding, especially over the last month or so," Henderson said.

"We’ve really taken it up a gear and you’ve seen that in the performances and the results. Now I want to contribute.

"The manager is full of energy and very passionate - you can see that when he talks to the press or has meetings with us.

"On the training field he comes across very energetic and passionate and wants us to be like that - high intensity - when we are playing.

"Our performances of late have been high quality with and without the ball and he has got that message across very clearly.

"If you are performing well and winning games then confidence grows and grows and you build momentum."


By his own admission, Henderson has missed out on an eventful period at Anfield due to his injury woes.

Jürgen Klopp's appointment in October has been followed by huge wins at Chelsea and Manchester City, as well as the midweek thrashing of Southampton that secured a place in the Capital One Cup semi-finals.

But, while the likes of James Milner and Lucas Leiva have acted as stand-in skippers on the pitch, the club captain has been fulfilling his role even during his rehabilitation.

"It’s all been a bit mad, hasn’t it?" he added.

"You feel helpless when things aren’t going well and you want to be in the team to try and turn things round and make things right.

"Then, on the other hand, when the team is doing very well you want to be part of it, you want to be playing.

"I’ve tried to focus on my responsibilities as captain. I tried to take responsibility off the field with anything the lads needed and still supported them by going to all the games, home and away, and trying to stay involved in that way.

"It is hard when you are in your suit or your tracksuit and you are not getting stripped or taking part.

"I’ve had issues going on but at the same time I need to think about them and what they need. It was important for me to be there for the lads."

Henderson featured in the final 15 minutes of Wednesday's 6-1 victory at St Mary's, and believes the much-changed nature of the starting XI in that fixture shows just how strong the Reds' squad is.

He continued: "At the minute we are looking very strong. Look at the people who didn’t play at Southampton - Christian, Milly, Firmino, Clyne, Coutinho, Flanno, Ingsy and Joe Gomez.

"There are a lot of good players who didn’t play and it was still an incredible performance. We have got good depth and we are very confident at the minute. We have to keep that consistency and that confidence high.

"We have a game every four or five days really, so the squad will have to be rotated in terms of keeping everyone fresh and fit.