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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Reds supporters have only seen a fraction of Leighton Clarkson’s ability, after the Reds prospect featured in the senior team midweek.

The 19-year-old is a highly-rated midfielder to come through the academy system at the Merseyside club and he made just his third first-team appearance on Wednesday night.

He was thrown straight into the starting XI in the Champions League group stages, completing 90 minutes during the 1-1 draw away to Danish side FC Midtjylland.

The teenager put in a really brave performance in the centre of the park, as he wasn’t shy to get on the ball frequently and showed off a great range of passing as well.

With the amount of quality midfield options in the first-team squad, it was a great opportunity for Clarkson to show what he could do on the European stage and it looks like he’s got potential to be a quality player in the future.

Klopp has praised the English defensive midfielder for his Champions League contribution, stating that he’s even better than he showed in the one game.

“It was a really good game for a boy of his age group, first Champions League game. You can’t imagine how much better he is than he showed that night, but that’s what I say for a first game it was a really good performance,” Klopp said, as quoted by the club’s official Youtube account.

“For him, it’s only the start for hopefully a long, long career. A lot of stats to go, a lot of things to improve, but for the first one it was really good.”

TBR’s View:

Clarkson is yet another Liverpool talent from the youth set-up that raised his hand up when given the opportunity with the first-team and perhaps it won’t be the last time he’s seen this season.

The midfielder can look to the likes of Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold to see there is a clear path at Anfield for academy players to the main group, which is why he needs to take the confidence that midweek will have given him and keep impressing with the Under-23s.