News'A happy day!' - Stefan Bajcetic reacts to return from injury and Tottenham win

The Spaniard was introduced as a second-half substitute as the Reds ran out 4-2 winners at Anfield, replacing Wataru Endo.

It was the 19-year-old's first league outing since March 2023, and his first in any senior competition since September, and afterwards Bajcetic was understandably thrilled to be back in the thick of things.

"It is good to be back to winning ways, and it's always good as well to step on the pitch after a long time as well so yeah, a happy day!" he told Liverpoolfc.com.

"It's been a long time. It's good to be back. I still need to improve a lot, still need to get my rhythm back and keep playing hopefully."

Injuries have meant that Bajcetic has endured a frustrating 14 months, making a brief return to action earlier in the season before finding himself sidelined again.

But having been cleared to return to full training in April, he was able to build up his fitness with Barry Lewtas' U21s before stepping up to the senior squad.

"It was important to start with the U21s first to get my rhythm back a little bit," he said. "Because the Premier League is so quick!

"It was good management by the club and me to play a bit with the U21s to get rhythm. Now I'm ready to step up."

He added: "I came back and played a couple of games [earlier in the season], but then I was feeling it again. So I wanted to recover properly, get stronger in all my body, so that I would not get it back.

"Hopefully now, touch wood, it's all good."

Bajcetic's return came on an entertaining day at Anfield, as Liverpool returned to winning ways in style, racing into a 4-0 lead through goals from Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott, before conceding late strikes to Richarlison and Son Heung-min as Spurs threatened a revival.

"It was better than the last few weeks," Bajcetic said. "We had some time off to think about the situation and we thought we needed to win all the games that we have left. I think we did well today.

"We had the luck that we missed in the other games sometimes, when we had big chances and couldn't score. Today they went in."

• Read our match report from Anfield here

Reflecting on Spurs' late rally, he added: "We wanted a clean sheet but we know the quality of Tottenham. They have very good players, quick players, and they had a strong bench as well.

"They came on fresh and it changed a little bit, but we managed to survive the last 30 minutes."

From here, Liverpool head to Aston Villa in a week's time before concluding their season with a home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on May 19, and Bajcetic says it is crucial that the Reds finish the campaign strongly.

"We always want to win," he said. "But I think it's important to finish the season well and then we can focus on the next one and be positive about next season as well."

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