Stefan Bajcetic made his first look in nearly seven months as Liverpool U21s beat Man United 3-0, which got here after a “late name” over his inclusion.
After irritating outcomes for the primary staff and U18s in opposition to Man United in latest weeks, the U21s produced a fierce show at Outdated Trafford on Friday night time.
Trent Kone-Doherty, Kaide Gordon and the excellent Jayden Danns scored the objectives, whereas Bajcetic got here off the bench in his first sport since September 27.
• READ: Danns stunner, Bajcetic returns – LFC U21s thrash Man United at Outdated Trafford!
The Spaniard, who had been on the bench for the 3-0 loss to Atalanta the night time earlier than, changed Kone-Doherty for the ultimate half-hour and was credited with the help for Gordon’s purpose.
Talking to journalists together with This Is Anfield‘s Sam Millne after the sport, U21s coach Barry Lewtas admitted it was a “late name” over whether or not he might use Bajcetic.
“It’s good! [It was a] little bit of a late name,” he stated when requested in regards to the 19-year-old’s return.
“We do have gamers like Kaide Gordon and Stefan who’ve missed fairly a little bit of time.
“He was determined to play and buzzing with half an hour. He got here on and I assumed he was going to explode after 10, he put that a lot into it!
“It was nice to have him again, it’s superb for him.”
Bajcetic had solely made two appearances prior to a different setback in his health in September, beginning in opposition to LASK within the Europa League and coming off the bench in opposition to Leicester within the Carabao Cup.
Points associated to his progress then led to a protracted spell on the sidelines, earlier than present process his personal ‘pre-season’ on the AXA Coaching Centre and rising his workload with the U21s.
Whereas he stays a first-team participant, his eligibility for the youth aspect ought to be a lift as he continues to work on his long-term health within the subsequent month-and-a-half.
Friday introduced one other blow for Isaac Mabaya, nevertheless, who was despatched on concurrently Bajcetic earlier than being compelled off late on.
“Isaac’s sadly on that listing of gamers who’ve missed a whole lot of soccer as nicely,” Lewtas instructed This Is Anfield, with the 19-year-old having solely featured 5 instances within the final 18 months.
“He’s a implausible character. He’s a robust boy, we’ve had these moments earlier than with gamers who’ve come by means of the opposite aspect, we’ll simply conserving working laborious.
“That in all probability does take the gloss off it. You can see when he went down, what number of gamers ran over to him.
“He’s a well-liked child, he’s a fantastic lad. I’m positive he’ll be OK.”
