Arne Slot backs Alexander Isak to use World Cup as springboard for a big second season at Liverpool | OneFootball

Arne Slot is hopeful that Alexander Isak can use the World Cup as a springboard to a strong second season at Liverpool.

Isak has endured a difficult debut season since signing for Liverpool from Newcastle United in a £125m British record deal last summer.

The Swedish striker has scored just three times in 20 appearances across all competitions, during a campaign derailed due to a lack of pre-season and serious injury in December.

Isak has recently returned from the fractured fibula and ankle issue sustained in the winter and has been eased back into action at Anfield.

His return is well timed, after fellow forward Hugo Ekitike sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon to curtail his own campaign.

Isak is expected to start when Liverpool host Crystal Palace in thePremier League tomorrow, and Slot has said he has seen encouraging signs from the 26-year-old in training.

The Dutchman has backed Isak to bounce back from a challenging campaign and said this summer'sWorld Cup can be the platform to get back to his best.

"A very good pre-season with us would have been a very good lead up to the season. If he has a good World Cup where he plays a lot of games, that would be very helpful,"Slot said at his pre-match press conference.

"I'm happy he's back. What is realistic, where he is now? You tell me. I think we can all understand that if a player missed out four months or five months of training before he came to us, then we build him up and the moment that he was ready he got injured again, missing out four months again and now he's two weeks with us... that's a lot of months without training time with the team.

"In the middle of a season where everyone is top and top and top fit, that's not the easiest part to come back, but I think we are seeing progress in the games he's played – Paris Saint-Germain and now this one [Everton].

"We're hoping that progress can continue and how fast he's then at his best level, I don't know that. I cannot look at the future, but I'm hoping – for us and for himself – very soon."