Cult hero RETURNS to Liverpool | OneFootball

Liverpool welcomed back a cult hero after playing his first game for the Reds in six months this week.

International football means our attention is turned towards the club's superstars playing for their national teams until they return later this month.

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With the euphoria of the transfer window over, this is usually a quieter period. It's a time for Liverpool to reassess and rewind as well before we get to the crunch periods of the season.

September will be a gruelling schedule filled with Champions League and Premier League action as well as Liverpool playing against Southampton in the League Cup.

Games are going to be coming thick and fast and it means Slot will need every single player from his squad in order to make sure the Reds come out on top.

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He'll have been keeping a close eye on Liverpool's U21 side in action earlier this week with the view to promote players.

The young Reds were competing in the Vertu Trophy against Burton Albion. Their opponents are currently 18th in League One after a difficult start but Liverpool were missing plenty of players of their own.

Normally for these fixtures you'd have the likes of Trey Nyoni, Jayden Danns, Trent Kone-Doherty and a few others available as well. However, they had already all gone on international duty.

This meant that the U21 head coach Rob Page had to rely on the services of Jay Spearing, with the 36-year-old veteran who is employed as a player/assistant coach at the club returning to the starting line-up for the first time in six months.

Spearing is a cult hero at the club. He played over 50 games for Liverpool after coming through the academy ranks and won the League Cup with the Reds. As a youth player, he also won the prestigious FA Youth Cup.

More recently, we've seen him turn out for the club's Legend side as well against Ajax and Chelsea. But his last game for the U21s came against Southampton in the Premier League 2 back in February just over six months ago.

With his experience very much needed, Spearing looked like a class act. He won three out of his four ground duels in the game and completed 6/9 long balls.

He was very much on the front foot and brought a stable presence in the midfield. After the game he posted a message on his Instagram expressing his delight at being back on the pitch:

"First Minutes of 25/26 Season ⚽️🔥So Good being back on Pitch ❤️," Spearing wrote.

Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent the Reds from losing the match, with Burton winning 2-0. Notable players to have featured in the team also included Kaide Gordon and Rhys Williams. Meanwhile, Will Wright made just his second start for the U21s after arriving from Salford City.