Stefan Bajcetic made his first appearance in almost seven months as Liverpool U21s beat Man United 3-0, which came after a “late call” over his inclusion.
After frustrating results for the first team and U18s against Man United in recent weeks, the U21s produced a fierce display at Old Trafford on Friday night.
Trent Kone-Doherty, Kaide Gordon and the outstanding Jayden Danns scored the goals, while Bajcetic came off the bench in his first game since September 27.
• READ: Danns stunner, Bajcetic returns – LFC U21s thrash Man United at Old Trafford!
The Spaniard, who had been on the bench for the 3-0 loss to Atalanta the night before, replaced Kone-Doherty for the final 30 minutes and was credited with the assist for Gordon’s goal.
Speaking to journalists including This Is Anfield‘s Sam Millne after the game, U21s coach Barry Lewtas admitted it was a “late call” over whether he could use Bajcetic.
“It’s brilliant! [It was a] bit of a late call,” he said when asked about the 19-year-old’s return.
“We do have players like Kaide Gordon and Stefan who have missed quite a bit of time.
“He was desperate to play and buzzing with half an hour. He came on and I thought he was going to blow up after 10, he put that much into it!
“It was great to have him back, it’s amazing for him.”
Bajcetic had only made two appearances prior to another setback in his fitness in September, starting against LASK in the Europa League and coming off the bench against Leicester in the Carabao Cup.
Issues related to his growth then led to a long spell on the sidelines, before undergoing his own ‘pre-season’ at the AXA Training Centre and increasing his workload with the U21s.
While he remains a first-team player, his eligibility for the youth side should be a boost as he continues to work on his long-term fitness in the next month-and-a-half.
Friday brought another blow for Isaac Mabaya, however, who was sent on at the same time as Bajcetic before being forced off late on.
“Isaac’s sadly on that list of players who’ve missed a lot of football as well,” Lewtas told This Is Anfield, with the 19-year-old having only featured five times in the last 18 months.
“He is a fantastic character. He’s a strong boy, we’ve had these moments before with players who’ve come through the other side, we’ll just keeping working hard.
“That probably does take the gloss off it. You could see when he went down, how many players ran over to him.
“He’s a popular kid, he’s a great lad. I’m sure he’ll be OK.”
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