Sunday, December 18, 2011

Aurelio Eyes First-Team Inclusion

Fabio Aurelio remains upbeat about the prospect of featuring for Liverpool in the second half of the season, and is determined to play a part in the club's quest for honours in 2012.

The 32-year-old Brazilian full-back is currently sidelined with a calf injury, and hasn't yet featured for Kenny Dalglish's side this campaign.

"For me the most important thing is to be available," Aurelio told Liverpoolfc.tv. "At the moment I am fighting to come back but hopefully once I return I can play some minutes on the pitch.

"It's not my decision but I will try to work as hard as possible to have the opportunity. I am capable of doing a job. I still have six months of contract here and I hope to finish the season off in a better way than it has started [for me]."

Aurelio believes the Reds deserve to be higher than their current position of sixth in the Barclays Premier League table, but is optimistic about their chances of forcing their way back into the reckoning for a top-four finish.

"We started off the new season with a lot of new faces and with everyone adapting to new teammates," he continued. "So far, I think we could have done better than we have but we are not in a bad position. I am still very confident that the team can achieve things this season.

"The performances haven't been so bad because of the opportunities we have been creating, but the ball hasn't been going in the net. I think we will keep going and if we create the same number of chances in the future, the goals will come."

With competition for places at Anfield as fierce as ever, Aurelio is hoping the busy festive period will give opportunity to the team's fringe players to make an impact.

"It's a hard time. You have a lot of games in a short period of time," he concluded. "For the ones who play regularly, maybe they are not looking forward to such a quick run of games.

"But for the ones not involved it is a chance to play and the moment to show what they can do, like Maxi has done.

"Maxi is a good example because he has worked hard and done well in each training session. You don't know when the opportunity will come you just have to be ready for it. It keeps everyone motivated because we know during this period there are lots of games and you never know what can happen."

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