Xherdan Shaqiri admits to having felt “frustrated” at Liverpool of late, with niggling injuries preventing him from seeing the regular game time he craves.
Competition for places at Anfield is fierce enough without being stuck on the sidelines.
Shaqiri has not been in contention as often as he would have liked, with the 29-year-old already finding it difficult to land a regular role in Jurgen Klopp’s plans.
Exit talk has been sparked amid a lack of game time, but the Switzerland international has stayed put for now and embraced the many challenges he faces.
He is hoping that better times lie ahead, with 29 minutes seen off the bench in Friday's 4-1 FA Cup third-round win over Aston Villa that represented his eighth outing of the season.
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“I'm fit again and back. I'm feeling good, I'm ready to play,” Shaqiri told the Reds’ official website.
“I'm looking forward to the next games and the second half of the season to try to help the team for a lot of achievement. I'm looking forward.
“It's normal if you are injured or you cannot help the team that you are frustrated. You are at home looking at your team-mates on the TV and you want to be there too. But this is part of football, part of life.
“I worked hard to be back, so I'm really happy now with the team. I'm trying now to help my team if I play and try to win games, which is the most important thing for us at the moment. I'm trying to help with my ability.”
Shaqiri sat out nine games with a muscular complaint through late November and much of December, but Liverpool prospered during that time to hit the top of the Premier League table and make their way through to the last-16 of the Champions League.
Major silverware is the ultimate target once again on Merseyside, with everyone at Klopp’s disposal determined to play their part in trophy bids.
Shaqiri is no different, with the enigmatic Swiss playmaker adding: “I think this is the goal of Liverpool FC and it must play for big achievements, big trophies. This is also our goal this year.
“Obviously we want to be at the top but we need very, very good performances and we need us at the top to really achieve these things.
“We are good in the moment but we need to work hard. If we work hard and then when we are at the top of our level then it's very difficult to play against us.”
Liverpool will be back in Premier League action next Sunday when they take in a crunch clash with arch-rivals and fellow title hopefuls Manchester United at Anfield.