Liverpool arrival’s message to Portsmouth faithful after exciting glimpse of potential following injury woe
After five months of injury woe, the Liverpool signing was back against Watford - and gave an intriguing glimpse of his potential in the Championship this term.
Harvey Blair set his sights on making up for lost time as he put his Pompey injury pain behind him.
And the former Liverpool winger is gunning to show Blues fans what he’s capable of, after a promising return to the fray in the 2-2 draw with Watford.
Blair made his first appearance in five months, as he left the bench and helped John Mousinho’s men salvage a point after surrendering a first-half advantage in 11 second-half minutes.
The Liverpool signing returned to training towards the end of last month, but was thrust into a high-octane environment and reacted well to the challenge.
Harvey Blair: Pleasing to be back
Now, after the £300,000 arrival show impetus towards the end of last term before collecting a final-day hamstring injury against Hull City, Blair is determined to prove his worth to Pompey’s Championship cause.
Blair said: ‘It’s the first time in five months I’ve played so it was always going to be hard, but pleasing to be back.
‘I’ve only trained for a week and a half. I’ve done a lot of work in training and a lot of fitness work, but it will never prepare you for being on a pitch in a game like that. In the first three minutes alone I did three transitional runs - sprint forward, sprint back, sprint forward.
‘It was always going to be tough but it’s one where I need to get games and minutes - then I feel I’ll be able to show everyone what I can do.
‘It’s a feeling of relief being back. Even though it was a tough game I’m so happy to be back on the pitch and playing. That’s what I enjoy. I just want to keep at it and hopefully now get into rhythm to be able to kick on.’
Within a few minutes of his 63rd-minute introduction for the excellent Minhyeok Yang, Blair showed persistence to win an attacking free-kick which went down well with the Fratton Faithful. That sparked his game to life with the 22-year-old going on to play a role in Adrian Segecic’s leveller 11 minutes time, as he emerged with credit from the clash.
Blair hopes those contributions show how he’s ready to fight for the Pompey cause this term.
Liverpool signing: I want to show what I can do
He added: ‘I just want to show people I’ll do anything for the team to get us something. It might have been bobbly and not look good but hopefully people can see I’m trying.
‘Then for the goal the ball came to me so quick, so I tried to chop it and I fell. I knew I had to swipe at the ball and I just wanted to help it to Swifty and then it was on to Sege for the goal.
‘I was happy to play a part in at least helping us to a point.’