Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo said that his focus is always on helping the team, despite having barely featured for the Reds under new head coach Arne Slot.

Endo has amassed just 22 minutes of game time in the Premier League and Champions League all season, with his two starts both coming in the Carabao Cup. The Japan international's last top-flight appearance came against Southampton in November, when he came on as a late substitute to help the Reds to see the game out.

He received praise on that occasion from Slot, who said: "Wata Endo who came in, maybe only for 10 minutes, but he was important in that 10 minutes. The amount of balls he won and the effort he put in. That’s, in the end, what makes a team strong and that’s what we need.”

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Endo was asked on The Red Machine Podcast about his lack of minutes under Slot and gave a typically professional response.

"Now, I don’t play a lot of games, but I always focus on what I can do for this club and what I can do to help my teammates, or the new manager," he said. "So, I think I really focus on that and I am obviously happy to be part of it and to be a player for Liverpool.

"I have talked with him [Slot]. He told me the same thing that he said in the interview [after the Southampton game] so I think that’s what I needed to do at the moment and I am so glad that he knows that I always try to work hard on the pitch.

"I’m good that he came to me and we talked about that. You know, I think to play for Liverpool is not easy. The manager told me: ‘We need everyone.’ Not only me, everyone is working hard in every training session and every minute they have got."

Endo could be set for more minutes over the next couple of months; the Reds resume their Carabao Cup campaign against Southampton next week, while he could be afforded minutes in the FA Cup, as well as in Liverpool's final two Champions League league-phase games at the beginning of next year.