Liverpool youngster Kieran Morrison was called-up to the first-team squad for the 1-0 victory over Sunderland in the Premier League.
Jay Spearing believes Kiernan Morrison’s Liverpool first-team call-up was reward for the progress he has made in recent months.
The 19-year-old was named on the bench for the Reds’ 1-0 victory over Sunderland. With Dominik Szoboszlai suspended, Morrison was promoted from the under-21s and got to experience the deserved victory at the Stadium of Light.
It was only the second time the versatile forward has been in a Premier League match-day squad, while he made his senior debut in a 3-0 Carabao Cup loss to Crystal Palace earlier this season. Morrison has been impressive at age-group level, having plundered eight goals and five assists in 20 games this campaign.
Spearing, who is Liverpool’s under-21s assistant coach, revealed that Morrison has caught the eye of Reds boss Arne Slot when he has reported for training.
Speaking on The Official Liverpool FC Podcast, Spearing said: “The Kieran one probably came last minute so there was no preparation to warn him to say he was going to be involved. But the boys who come less prepared are probably prepared better. If you prepare them more, they can overthink it and get a bit nervous. Listen, Kieran over the past two-to-three months has really stepped up for our under-21s side.
“He’s been training every so often with the first team, he's impressed the manager. He's been nominated for [Premier League 2] Player of the Month so is in a really good spot. For us as an academy was an unbelievable occasion to see him get the opportunity to be involved. In the nicest way, we want them to be around the first team and then when they come back, in the nicest way, don't want to be around us. They want to get back there as quickly as they can.
“We speak to the manager most days, we're in his office quite a lot, we speak to him probably three-to-four times a week in his office planning sessions. So if the manager says who is playing well, if you're playing well and training well, your name is going to get put in front of him and he will want to see clips, he'll want to see video so that's what's happened to Kieran.
“Dom gets suspended so Kieran is the first name who gets mentioned; how did he play at the weekend? Fantastically well going down to 10 men (during a 1-1 draw against Southampton), he showed a different side of his game, a maturity and there's the reward, the manager wants to pick you in his squad and what an occasion it is.”
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