It’s easy to forget that Harvey Elliott was one of Liverpool’s star performers during Jurgen Klopp’s final weeks in charge. After winning the League Cup, the Reds’ ultimately saw their Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup challenges all end in disappointing fashion during the final two months of the campaign.

But while Liverpool floundered, it was a different story for Elliott. Starting five of the Reds’ final six matches, he returned a goal and four assists.

Meanwhile, from the week of the League Cup final onwards, he started 12 of his 20 appearances as he scored three goals and registered nine assists.

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Impressing in pre-season under new head coach Arne Slot, Elliott had looked destined to push on. But then an untimely injury struck as a fractured foot was uncovered while away with England Under-21s during the September international break. He had made just one 83rd minute substitute appearance under Slot up to that point.

While the 21-year-old had initially hoped to return soon after the October international break, he ultimately was not cleared to return to training for a further month. An unused substitute against Southampton and Real Madrid in November, Elliott made his eventual comeback as a late substitute in the 2-0 victory over Manchester City on December 1.

Game time has been hard to come by for the former Fulham man since then. While he scored when making his first start of the season against Southampton in the League Cup quarter-finals, he has been limited to just 43 minutes of action as a substitute in the Premier League over Liverpool’s last five top-flight matches.

Meanwhile, he did not even get off the bench for the Reds’ League Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Tottenham Hotspur - despite Dominik Szoboszlai’s continuing absence through illness.

Elliott will surely hope that it is at least a different story when Liverpool are next in action at home to Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

His plight so far has been curious, with Slot already admitting it has proven difficult to give the midfielder the minutes he requires following his return from injury.

"Harvey is a talented player and has been when with us for so long. In recent weeks he comes on quite a lot and has been getting minutes there," said the Liverpool head coach yesterday. "But like it is for him and all the others, they are in competition with many other good players.

"He was very unlucky that after two games he got injured and was out for a long time. What I've seen until now with almost all of the players who have been out for quite a while that in this league, in this tempo, with this intensity and the quality we and the other teams have as well, it isn't so easy to come back and be at your best immediately.

"I see this not only with Harvey, but with almost all the other players that have been out for five, six, seven or eight weeks. That is the balance we have to find, giving them playing time to get them back to their best level but still be able to win every game.

"Our margins are constantly small. If you are 5-0 up you can give players who have been out for quite a long time half-an-hour or a half or even longer, but that's not how we have won our games until now."

Despite still being only 21, Elliott is not some previously untried player. He has made 128 appearances for Liverpool to date, and should clock off a century of Premier League matches at some point during the calendar year.

Only Darwin Nunez could better his total of 53 appearances last season, while Elliott also made the fourth most appearances for the club during the 2022/23 campaign. He has already shown those of a Reds persuasion plenty of times what he is capable of. While not always a starter, this current situation is new to him.

When Elliott first joined Liverpool from Fulham in July 2019, he was an exciting right-winger. He played in that role for the majority when catching the eye on loan at Blackburn Rovers in the 2020/21 campaign, too, returning seven goals and 11 assists from 41 Championship appearances.

But following his return to Anfield, he was transformed into a midfielder. Where once Mohamed Salah stood in the way of his first team chances, Klopp had opened a door elsewhere into the engine room.

Slot’s arrival had been anticipated to suit Elliott even more, given his preference for a 4-2-3-1 set-up with a number 10. While more than capable of playing at number eight, that central-attacking role is where he thrives, with Slot admitting he considers it Elliott's best position after he scored against Southampton.

“It was good to see that he's able to play 90 for him today and even score a goal. I started him off on the right. I felt he almost got a bit bored so he didn't touch the ball a lot," said Slot.

“So we changed this after 15 to 20 minutes of playing him in the midfield. We know he's a better midfielder than he is a winger, but we had to do it like this. So that was pleasing to see.”

Elliott wants to play at number 10, but is well aware that competition is fierce in Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones.

“I feel like that’s my strongest point, especially when it comes to the creativity side of things and the playmaking,” he recently told The Times. “That’s the position I play at England and I feel like I can really show my attributes. But on top of that, we have two other world-class No10s in Curtis and Dom.

“It’s not going to be easy at all. It’s just about waiting for my moment, my opportunities and trying to take them with everything I have. On top of that, when I do get brought in, whether it’s as a sub or wherever I start, I just want to try to contribute for the team and be the best possible player I can.”

A boyhood Liverpool supporter, Elliott’s attitude has always been exemplary. You will not hear a bad word from him despite his limited action following his return from injury.

But it is somewhat ironic that a positional change which first opened the door for him is now proving to be an Anfield stumbling block. Where Salah is 32 and out of contract in the summer, Szoboszlai and Jones are aged 24 and 23 respectively with their peak years in front of them.

Given the transfer window is now open, it will hardly be a surprise if he becomes the subject of speculation. But Elliott will remain patient. While unused against Tottenham, there is at least a good chance that Accrington will at least be his next opportunity to catch Slot’s eye.

And it is perhaps worth noting that during the first half of last season, he had returned only one goal and one assist from 25 appearances and 11 starts before the turn of the year - prior to the already-referenced strong finish under Klopp.

While outings under Slot have so far been limited, Elliott will be hoping that history can repeat itself and his campaign will soon explode into life.