Tyler Morton has praised the quality of Liverpool’s senior players, as he continues to impress at Blackburn Rovers.
The 20-year-old has proven to be a big hit at Rovers, helping them to third in the Championship table. Before that though, he broke through the academy into a stacked Liverpool squad. And sitting down to speak to The Athletic, Morton looked back on the time he’s spent in the Reds senior team so far.
“The time that sticks out was when we had an in-house game against the first team during an international break. They told me I was playing centre-mid against a midfield three of Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Fabinho and Ox [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain].
“It was me, Leighton Clarkson and Jake Cain. It was the first time I’d ever been up there and just realising the quality — it shook me and was a bit of a wake-up call,” admitted the midfielder.
“I was like I need to switch on because I’m getting dizzy here. We were getting absolutely battered. I don’t remember us scoring and I think we had to pick the ball out of the net about three times. But it was that game when I switched on and kicked on. I started training with them quite regularly and eventually full-time. That’s when I really found my feet and my confidence.”
You wouldn’t have know it, to be fair. Morton took to first team matches like a duck to water. A really exciting young Reds prospect doing well in the second division.
Morton fuelling promotion push at Blackburn
You have to admire the honesty from Morton here. Some young players would never like to admit to being outclassed by those who’s places they’ve got their eye on.
But the on-loan prospect is a little different. Clearly in awe of playing with the stars of his boyhood club, Morton almost seems to see it as a badge of honour.
However he regards it, it’s clear that the experience helped the England U21 man immensely.
From then on, he was part of the Liverpool first team squad, for training at least. Morton also managed to play nine times for the seniors last season, including starts away at Tottenham and AC Milan.
He has taken that confidence with him to Blackburn. Not initially a starter for Jon Dahl Tomasson, Morton has even filled in out of position at centre-back.
That kind of tenacity has since seen him earn his spot in the starting Rovers midfield. As they aim to clinch promotion to the Premier League for the first time in a long time, the Liverpool lad looks like he’s going to be key.
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