Milos Kerkez has revealed the words of encouragement from Andy Robertson that helped him shine in Liverpool’s Merseyside derby victory over Everton on Saturday.
The Premier League champions secured a 2-1 win at Anfield thanks to first-half goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, despite Idrissa Gueye pulling one back shortly before the hour mark in the 247th meeting between the clubs.
Kerkez delivered an impressive display on his derby debut, keeping Everton star Iliman Ndiaye quiet for much of the contest while also contributing to several attacking moves as Arne Slot’s side maintained their 100% start to the season.
The 21-year-old, who joined Liverpool from Bournemouth for £40m in the summer, is battling for minutes with Robertson, the long-serving left-back recently named vice-captain following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure.
And while Scotland’s captain now faces one of the biggest challenges of his Liverpool career in competing with Kerkez for a starting spot, the Hungary international has explained the pep talk he received from his experienced teammate ahead of the clash with David Moyes’s side.
“The relationship is really good,” Kerkez said. “Before the game he motivated me, he told me: ‘Go outside and do your thing that you were doing last season.’ So he gave me a bit of a push. Then after the game he congratulated me and told me that I should keep going like that.
“We are good. He’s a legend who did amazing things, won everything and still has quality. It’s not like he’s not here. He’s a squad player. This is Liverpool, we’re competing. He’s pushing me, I’m pushing him and I think that’s important to have in a big club like this.
“Like I say, I’m playing a bit different so I’m adapting to that. I would say on Saturday I could have more freedom. That was also from what the coach wanted me to do so like I said, I’m just going to do what he tells me in every game.
“With Virgil (van Dijk), I think I’m building a good connection. Obviously we are now playing more and I think we are defending well.
“Everyone is adapting to each other, even Flo (Florian Wirtz) and Alex (Alexander Isak) and everyone who arrived so everything needs a bit of time to gel in. Obviously now we’re getting results but I think in the future it’s going to be really, really bright.
“At the end of the day, the result and points are important. Even if the game is sometimes not going our way, we have to continue to win the game. We always find solutions so I hope that continues. We have a lot of big quality players so we have to continue.”
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