Andy Robertson responds to his 'doubters' as Liverpool ace makes 'simple' Man City and Arsenal point

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has hit back at his "doubters" after returning to the Reds' starting XI during the 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. Arne Slot opted to select Kostas Tsimikas against Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen, and the Scot admitted he had a chip on his shoulder.

"To an extent, yeah," he admitted when asked if he felt he had a point to prove after a couple of games on the bench. "I've maybe got doubters for the first time in a long time at this club, so I'm just trying to prove people wrong again.

"I missed pre-season which is never ideal for any player and then with the ankle, I was struggling and got another knock on it which took a bit of time to settle down. But I feel good.

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"Taking a couple of games out was frustrating — of course you want to play every game — but that wasn't possible. I knew the next time I got a chance, I would try and take it."

Robertson looked refreshed after a couple of games out of the team and he will want to ensure he keeps his place with huge fixtures against Real Madrid and Manchester City on the horizon. They follow the trip to Southampton after the international break.

Expanding on his feelings after being left out of the team, Robertson compared his "doubters" now to those he had when he first arrived at Anfield from Hull City in 2017.

"I'm a lot older and a lot wiser now," Robertson said. "I've been here for seven years and I've won everything and played in a lot of big games. I'm a lot more experienced and a lot better at switching off from everything.

"I had a bad 45 minutes against Arsenal and everyone had pretty much written me off after that so that's football these days. People can write me off all you want, but I'll always try and keep working and keep improving."

"The manager is very open and very honest and we've spoken quite a few times," Robertson explained. "There's always conversations and mutual respect from both of us even if we maybe don't agree.

"I've always got respect for my managers; it happened with Jurgen Klopp and it happens with Scotland as well. I use my experience in the changing room to try and help everyone else and that won't stop. But I like playing and I like starting and being on the pitch. When I'm not, I try and be as professional as I can."

While Robertson has not started every game and has been questioned in some quarters at times, Liverpool leads the Premier League table by five points and is the only team with a 100 per cent record in the Champions League. Nonetheless, no Reds player is getting carried away.

"It's been a good start," Robertson said. "To be top of the league in November is always good. But Man City always finish the league so, so strong, Arsenal always finish strong, and they will think they can catch us. Of course they can. We just have to focus on winning games and seeing where it takes us.

"When your competitors drop points, it is important that you capitalize on it. It's that simple. When they go first and if they win, it puts slightly more pressure on you, and if they drop points, then you have a massive chance and you have to capitalize.

"I wouldn't say [Manchester City] are weaker but they are going through a tough moment and they have a couple of injuries but they have a quality squad and I'm sure they will come back. We have to focus on ourselves and if we keep winning games, we will stay ahead but there is a long way to go and we know it is going to be tough.

"Winning games breeds confidence. The first couple of weeks, we had a lot of time between games where we could do a lot of work and tactical work with it being a Euros summer and the South Americans coming back late, we didn't have much time in pre-season.

"We can see the lads playing really well at the moment and some of them have been unbelievable. It's just about keeping going and winning games and hopefully that continues."