Wednesday, 5th December, 2012
Liverpool assistant manager Colin Pascoe is delighted to see Lucas Leiva back in a red shirt, admitting that "we missed him dearly".
Lucas returned to first team action after a lengthy absence during Liverpool’s 1-0 weekend victory over Southampton in the Premier League.
Despite only just coming back from injury, Lucas showed little ill effect of not having played since facing Manchester City at the start of the season, and as a result clocked up 88 minutes against the Saints, before being replaced by Jamie Carragher.
He now seems to be firmly back and ready to contribute.
And Pascoe could not be happier.
"He’s had his ups and downs with the injuries but he’s the type of lad who always has a smile on his face", the Reds assistant told his club’s official site.
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"And it was nice to see a smile on his face again on Saturday", he continued.
"The way he performed against Southampton was right up there with all the performances he has given before.
"I’m very pleased to see him back because we missed him dearly.
"For him to come back after working so hard on his recovery from injury is a testament to him as a professional. He looks after himself. His performance on Saturday was superb."
It does seem however that tomorrow’s Europa League match against Udinese has been judged as asking a little too much of Lucas to be involved in.
The Brazilian midfielder has not travelled to Italy for the Reds’ make-or-break clash. Liverpool need a win to be completely sure of qualifying for the knockout stage.
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