Liverpool boss Arne Slot admits it will likely take time for summer signing Federico Chiesa to hit top form following his long-awaited return from injury.

Italy forward Chiesa played the second half of Wednesday evening’s 2-1 Carabao Cup quarter-final win at Southampton, having been sidelined for almost three months.

The 27-year-old has been restricted to just four appearances since moving to Anfield from Juventus in a deal which could eventually be worth £12.5million.

Slot felt there were encouraging signs from Chiesa at St Mary’s as he challenged the player to provide competition for Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.

“I think what I saw is what you can expect,” said the Dutchman. “If a player is out for five or six months you cannot expect (too much). I saw ups and downs.

“I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, ‘OK, you can do better than this.’ For me, that’s completely normal if a player has been out for so long.

“To get him back to his best is not easy. But it was good to see that he showed some quality already.

“But it’s the same for him like the youngsters, it’s not enough to play at this level, you have to compete with Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Lucho (Diaz), Darwin and Diogo.

“But it’s good to see that he’s back and that he had a few good moments in the game.”

Slot rotated his squad on the south coast, leaving out captain Virgil van Dijk and top scorer Salah ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Tottenham.

First-half goals from Nunez and Harvey Elliott, who was making his first start of the season, put the holders on course for the semi-finals.

Managerless Southampton halved the deficit through Cameron Archer but were unable to force a penalty shootout after Chiesa went close to restoring Liverpool’s two-goal lead.

Interim Saints boss Simon Rusk, who took over following the sacking of Russell Martin in the aftermath of Sunday’s 5-0 thrashing by Spurs, is unsure how long he will remain in the job.

With work to appoint Martin’s permanent replacement ongoing, the top-flight’s bottom club will return to action at Fulham on Sunday.

“The communication has been really clear and excellent and I’m guessing that I’ll be getting some communication about how the next couple of days are going to look,” said Rusk.

“I’m not sure yet.

“They (the players) were hurting from the other day. They need some form of leadership and direction and that’s my job.

“In the second half, the guys stood up to it, didn’t wilt, and grew into the game and maybe on another day we go and nick the second.”