Winger ready to take chance

Nabil El Zhar is relishing the opportunity to make up for lost time by playing a part in Liverpool's ascent up the Barclays Premier League table.

The Moroccan winger missed the opening months of the 2009-10 campaign due to a knee ligament problem sustained in pre-season.

However, El Zhar has been named on the substitutes' bench for the Reds' last two league outings, and with his injury woe now behind him, the 23-year-old is eager to make his first-team return in the coming weeks.

"I am good now. I have recovered from the injury and I am training as normal," he told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"I twisted my knee in pre-season and had problems with the ligament. It took a long time to recover from, but now I am back.

"I have been injured since July, so I am not 100 per cent fit. But I am feeling better every day and hopefully in a few weeks I will be at 100 per cent.

"It's never a good time to be injured, especially in pre-season, but now it's over and I am just looking to the future."

After making 19 appearances for the first-team last term, El Zhar was rewarded with a contract extension by Rafael Benitez in the summer.

Now back in contention, the winger is determined to pick up where he left off prior to the injury.

"Of course it has been difficult to watch," he said. "But the club have been helping me a lot - it's not easy to be injured. Now I just want to play and improve.

"We did well last season, and I played a part which was good for me. I hope to get some more games this season.

"Rafa has told me to be patient because I have been out for a long time. Obviously I am not 100 per cent fit, and that will take time.

"I need to wait, work hard to get my fitness back and take my chance when it comes."

Liverpool are currently on a five match unbeaten run and will head into today's clash with Blackburn Rovers on the back of a morale-boosting Merseyside derby triumph over Everton.

El Zhar added: "The mood is good here and we all stick together. Confidence is up and we got a win on Sunday against Everton, so everything is right.

"We've had some bad luck this season, but that's in the past and we have to look to the future and learn from our mistakes. The next game is against Blackburn and we have to try and win."