Curtis Jones is determined to make goalscoring a regular part of his contribution for Liverpool – just as he did against Manchester United.
The No.17 delivered the second strike in the Reds’ 3-0 win over their rivals in South Carolina on Saturday night, as the team’s USA pre-season tour ended in fine fashion.
Darting into the box, Jones was the beneficiary of outstanding build-up play from Mohamed Salah, who crossed for his teammate to knock in from yards out.
“I’ve always said I want to be a lad who scores goals and assists and helps the team,” he told Liverpoolfc.com after the final whistle at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“I just took it on myself. I thought in the first 20 minutes they were coming to press us a lot so I was trying to get on the ball more.
“But as the game went on more and they tired a bit, I saw the gaps appearing more so I thought if I can get into the box more I can nick myself a goal, and that’s what I did.”
Further assessing that moment and the quality of assist from Salah, the midfielder continued: “That’s what he is great at and he reads the game as well.
“I just had an eye on the goal and I know Mo likes to get assists as well, he is fantastic at getting his head up and he put it on a plate for me.
“That’s part of my game [scoring goals] I feel I can improve and get in the box more; I can score more goals. I can play deep and I can also play high. Football now has changed as it’s all about stats with goals and assists. I’ve got to try to improve my game and I think a big part of that is scoring goals, assist more and be involved as much as I can.
“We’ve got lads who have come in on the scene and made themselves a name by scoring goals. I think it’s an important part of the game.
“And if you can keep yourself in the game by scoring goals and the manager sees you as a guy who can do that and can affect the game then you keep your shirt, so that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
The Reds’ time in the USA was 12 days that included regular intense training sessions and three friendly fixtures – each of which were won.
A 1-0 victory over Real Betis in Pittsburgh and 2-1 success versus Arsenal in Philadelphia preceded the three goals and clean sheet against United.
On it being a successful trip, Jones said: “100 per cent, yes. It’s important we could come here for a hard camp, we’ve trained every day.
“It’s been hard and hot with the heat as well, but we are all fit and we’ve got the lads who are coming back as well, so happy days.”
On a personal level, Jones quickly recovered from a precautionary withdrawal during the Betis fixture to feature in each of the two outings that followed.
He got just shy of 60 minutes in the United encounter, and explained that he is feeling in strong condition as the Premier League season start looms.
“I try to improve all the time. I feel I’m in a good place,” he said. “I’ve had a little bit of an ankle and a knee issue and that is why I came off early in the Real Betis game.
“But in terms of [fitness] I could have played the whole game then yes, but I got a whack on my back and the head coach just said to me, ‘We’ve took you off more as a precaution and we don’t need to risk anything.’
“If you are saying, ‘Am I fit?’ [then] 100 per cent I am ready for the start of the season.”
