Andy Robertson said he is motivated to prove people wrong and told his doubters to carry on writing him off.
The left-back has lost his place in the Liverpool side at times this season, starting only one of the four Champions League matches and being benched for two of their last three games, against Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen.
But he returned to the team to produce a dynamic display in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa and Robertson, who feels his slow start to the campaign was due to a lack of a pre-season and an ankle problem, admitted he struggled against Arsenal, when Bukayo Saka beat him to score in a 2-2 draw.
The Scotland captain said: “The last couple of games I’ve been on the bench and I got doubters for the first time in a long time, the first time at this club. But it suits me in this position. I am trying to prove people wrong again. I tried to do that [against Villa].
“I missed pre-season which is never ideal for any player. And then I have had the ankle struggles, I got another knock on it against Wolves and it took a bit of time to settle down. So I feel good and obviously taking a couple of games out was frustrating. I want to play every game, of course, but that was not possible. I knew that the next time I got a chance I would take it and that’s what I tried to do [on Saturday].”
Robertson has made more than 300 appearances for Liverpool since joining from Hull in 2017 and while he took several months to establish himself in the side, his status as a first-choice has been unquestioned for most of that time.
But Kostas Tsimikas has been in fine form and preferred for some major matches, leading Robertson to hold talks with manager Arne Slot.
He added: “I am a lot older and a lot wiser now than when I came in. When I first came in I was only 23, first time playing for a big club. I have been here for seven years and won everything, played in a lot of big games. I am a lot more experienced and a lot better at switching off from everything like overreactions and things like that.
“Probably a bad 45 minutes of football against Arsenal, it was not great. I think pretty much everyone had written me off after that! That is football and that is what happens these days. People can write me off all they want.
“I think the manager is very open and honest, we have spoken quite a few times and it has always been good conversations. There is mutual respect between both of us even if we don’t agree with the team line-ups.
“It happened with Jurgen [Klopp], it has happened with Scotland – and I always have respect for the manager. He knows my experience in the changing room and how I try to help everyone else. And that won’t stop.”