Arne Slot has challenged Federico Chiesa to prove he can make a difference for Liverpool over the second half of the season
Slot explained why Harvey Elliott has been handed only limited minutes in recent weeks.
Chiesa has made just four appearances for the Reds since arriving from Juventus in the summer with his sole 18-minute appearance in the Premier League coming in September.
The Italy international, though, has been on the bench for five of the last seven games as he continues to work towards full match fitness
Chiesa is among those vying for a start in the FA Cup third round clash at home to Accrington Stanley on Saturday lunchtime.
while detailing the ongoing reasons for Chiesa's lack of appearances, Liverpool boss Slot has laid down the gauntlet to the forward for the remainder of the campaign.
Slot
"Every game is a chance for every player to get some playing time,"
"It's not only for him being difficult in terms of match fitness, it's also that he has to compete with the likes of Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah.
"Everybody here knows the numbers Mo Salah brings in. There's not many times a reason to take him out during a game or before a game.
“Also because he's so fit. I've said many times he was the fittest player that came in in pre-season and he does everything every single day to keep his match fitness, and he wants to play every single game.
"He shows up every single game. It's not only about Federico when we are talking about him being limited in his playing time.”
“It's also about the others. But in terms of Federico it definitely has to do with the way he came in, the rest were already training a lot and we had to bring him up in terms of match fitness.”
"It's a combination of reasons why he didn't play that much yet but let's wait and see in the upcoming weeks and months if he's able to help us because the second half of the season is even more important than the first."
Elliott, meanwhile, has made just one start since returning at the start of December from almost three months out with a fractured foot
The 21-year-old has emerged from the bench in Liverpool's last five Premier League games but was an unused substitute in the League Cup semi-final
with Elliott primed to feature against Accrington, Slot has outlined the issue facing the attacking midfielder and other players who have recently returned from long-term injury absences.
Slot
“Harvey is a talented player and has been when with us for so long. In recent weeks he comes on quite a lot and has been getting minutes there,"
"But like it is for him and all the others, they are in competition with many other good players.”
“He was very unlucky that after two games he got injured and was out for a long time.
“What I've seen until now with almost all of the players who have been out for quite a while that in this league, in this tempo, with this intensity and the quality we and the other teams have as well, it isn't so easy to come back and be at your best immediately.
"I see this not only with Harvey, but with almost all the other players that have been out for five, six, seven or eight weeks.
“That is the balance we have to find, giving them playing time to get them back to their best level but still be able to win every game.
"Our margins are constantly small. If you are 5-0 up you can give players who have been out for quite a long time half-an-hour or a half or even longer, but that's not how we have won our games until now."
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