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Marko Grujic shone in the no.6 role for Liverpool Under-23s, as he played through illness to down Manchester United on Monday night.

The Serbian scored a towering header from Ben Woodburn’s corner in the Reds’ 3-1 win over their rivals at Leigh Sports Village.

His run out for Neil Critchley’s side came just 24 hours after a cameo appearance at Wembley for the senior side, although the game had long been decided in their 4-1 defeat to Tottenham.

There have been growing calls for the 21-year-old to be handed more first-team opportunities at Anfield after making just seven league appearances, all as substitute, since arriving in the summer of 2016.

Those noises will grow after a good showing against United in a deeper role, with his Under-23s boss delighted with his performance throughout – despite the threat of missing the second half through illness.

But Grujic battled on as the Reds moved five points clear in Premier League 2, and keeping United bottom in the process.

“We asked Marko to do a specific job for us as a No.6,” Critchley told Liverpoolfc.com. “Maybe he’s better as a No.8 or No.10, but he’s good on the ball and he controlled the game for us.

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“He’s very good in both penalty boxes so it’s not a surprise he scored with a header at that end. But some of his defensive headers were excellent as well.

“He was struggling a little bit at half-time with illness and we were undecided whether to keep him on, but he wanted to stay on and thankfully we did.”

Goals from Grujic, Ovie Ejaria and Harry Wilson ensured Liverpool have seven wins out of eight, and are the joint top scorers in the division.