I have a feeling he will be the back up striker we'll need.
Ukrainian striker
Andriy Voronin
wants another chance to prove he has a future at Liverpool.
JoernPollex/GettyImages
Voronin has returned to Liverpool
The 29-year-old is back in boss Rafael
Benitez's squad after a year-long loan at Hertha
Berlin and figured in last night's opening pre-season friendly
against St Gallen.
Voronin played in the first half of a 0-0 draw and is clearly
intent on reviving his career at Liverpool.
Benitez said: "He did really well in Germany last season,
scoring plenty of goals, and he has told me that he wants to stay
at the club and fight for his position.
"I have told him that will be difficult with
Fernando Torres and
Steven Gerrard as our first-choice strikers. But he realises this
and the players we have in the squad.
"But he also knows that this club always plays more than 60
games a season and that means there are opportunities. He will
fight for his place.''
Voronin signed for Liverpool on a free transfer from Bayer
Leverkusen in 2007 but, after recovering from an ankle injury, was
shipped out to Berlin a year ago.
He scored 11 goals in 21 league games for Berlin, who finished
fourth in the Bundesliga, just missing out on Champions League
qualification.
If Hertha had made it to the Champions League, they would have
had the finances to pay a £6million fee for the Ukrainian.
Benitez would certainly be prepared to sell Voronin now to boost
his transfer budget and another loan could be possible.
But Voronin is at least being given the chance to show he can be
a viable back-up striker.
Benitez said: "Voronin is doing well. Last pre-season he also
did really well for us and then when he went on loan he had a very
good season in Germany with Hertha Berlin.
"He has game intelligence, which is something we are always
looking for.
"At this moment he is a Liverpool player. But it depends on him,
he is continuing to work hard and is playing well so he will have a
chance.
"It is good to have him back. When we signed him we were looking
for a player who could play 'between the lines' as a second striker
with quality.''
Benitez was also impressed with the quality of new signing
Glen Johnson
against St Gallen, the England defender making his debut as a
second-half substitute in an unfamiliar left-back role at the AFG
Arena.
The Liverpool chief said: "Glen played at left-back because we
do not have too many options there at the moment due to
injuries.
"I asked him to play on the left and he did really well. The
team as a whole did well but everyone was watching Glen and he was
good.''
Johnson almost scored within minutes of coming on and was
pleased with his debut.
He said: "It felt fantastic out there, it was nice to get my
first 45 minutes.
"Now I can get on with it. The boys have made me feel really
welcome from the start and I enjoyed getting out there and putting
in a performance with them.
"It's been brilliant at the training camp, I have loved every
minute of it and I am looking forward to the season ahead.''
The absence of
Fabio Aurelio and
Andrea Dossena
meant Johnson filled in at left-back, and the new boy is only too
happy to adapt.
He said: "I have played there before, though not recently. But I
have been training there for the last few days and I quite enjoy
it.
"I was very disappointed not to have scored with the chance I
had. I want to score every opportunity I get and I should have done
better.''