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Injured Liverpool striker Danny Ings has vowed to come back stronger and prove his worth to new boss Jurgen Klopp.

The former Burnley frontman who is the Reds top scorer so far this season with three goals tore his anterior cruciate ligament on Wednesday and is expected to be out for the remainder of the campaign.

Ings said: “As modern-day professionals it all comes down to how you perform on the pitch.

“But you can’t perform on the pitch unless you are doing all the stuff off it in the correct manner, especially at this level.

“The only way I can get in his [Klopp’s] thoughts and show him what a good professional I am is the way I am in the gym or by being positive around the lads. Sometimes negativity can rub off on players and I don’t want to affect their performance. When you are injured you have to keep a positive mindset and keep moving forward.

“I feel better than I expected to feel and that might come from the fact I have had previous injuries that have been quite lengthy before or it might just be the fact I made my England debut and I was playing all the recent games for Liverpool.

"I think it is important not to get too down. There will be a few down days when I am not feeling myself and I am gutted I cannot be out with the team. But I am trying to stay as positive as I can be.”

After getting the diagnosis on Thursday, Ings went for a walk around Calderstones Park with his agent David Threlfall to discuss how to plan his comeback.

Recalling how the injury happened he said: “I was coming from the centre of the pitch to the left-hand side running full tilt.

“I received the ball on the inside of my right foot and as I came inside pressing off my left it got caught in an awkward position. I went and sat down. We had tests on it and it was perfectly fine, the wobble test [used to detect cruciate ruptures] – everything was fine.

“We didn’t have a clue what it was because after that I got up and thought I could go and train again. We walked in because we didn’t want to risk it. We were doing tests again and there was nothing there. The only thing worrying me is that there was a click … I have had surgery on this knee before but it was an injury that was completely different – that was a repair of my meniscus.

“This is something completely different. The MRI showed it was an isolated ACL partial rupture. The only positive thing is that everything around it, the meniscus, all the other ligaments are fine so hopefully that will shorten the timescale when I return.”

Although it is a cruel blow for a young man only just making his way at Anfield - his transfer tribunal fee from the Clarets where he was out of contract is still yet to be settled - the 23-year-old is determined to come back stronger.

Ings said: “I am experienced enough in my career to know it is not the end.

“It is a setback and, yes, I was playing and I was starting for Liverpool sooner than I expected, which was great. Making my England debut was a massive achievement.

“These things do happen and it can be cruel but for me it is part of the game and this is when footballers really, really earn their money. To go in earlier than everyone else and come home later than everyone else.

"To work as hard as you can and come back better. I have always done that. Any injury I have had, I have come back stronger. Especially mentally strong and it makes me appreciate the job I do when things like this happen.”

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