Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson has revealed he has no regrets in electing to stay with the Anfield club, despite appearing to be surplus to requirements. The England international signed for the Merseyside club last summer, when ex-Liverpool player Kenny Dalglish was in charge. However, he has had a disapppointing year since, culminating in rumours of a forced exit after new manager Brendan Rodgers signed Wales midfielder Joe Allen from former club Swansea City.

Jordan Henderson
Reuters

"I am very focused on what I need to do and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. I want my future to be at Liverpool so I'll give everything every day to make sure that happens," Henderson explained, adding, "I'm learning all the things I need to learn and I have got to take on board what people are saying around me to try to improve myself as a player."

Dalglish signed the 22 year old from Sunderland for £20m and did play him often; Henderson was a regular in the first team and made 48 appearances in total, scoring twice and setting up three other goals. However, this season he has rarely featured, making only 11 appearances in total and has yet to start a league game.

The low point was reports Rodgers was planning to use him (and other non-performing squad players like Stewart Downing and Jose Enrique) as bait to convince Fulham into letting American forward Clint Dempsey come to Anfield. The Daily Mail reported at the time that a deal, in principle, involving Henderson had actually already been completed... before the American threw a spanner in the works by moving to Tottenham instead.

"It probably looks like that, because of how much I played last year while this season I haven't started a Premier League game. It is not easy to think long term, especially when I've played a lot of games considering my age. Now I'm 22 and I'm not playing as regularly as I would like to," the former Black Cat said earlier this year, when asked if the club were no longer interested in his services.

However, despite the situation and earlier comments, Henderson is convinced his Anfield career is far from over and insists he can prove his critics and the club wrong by working his way back into the first team.

Liverpool are presently in Russia to play Anzhi Makhachkala in a UEFA Europa League group stage match. The Reds lead Group A with six points from three games, with Anzhi and Serie A club Udinese second and third respectively, with four points each.

Russia