Manchester City in September,
then a hamstring sustained
the following month while on
international duty with Senegal.
“Honestly, they were not easy
times for me,” he admits. “The
City game was an important one
for us but I got a red card and
in the end we lost 5-0. I accept
that this happened and I had to
deal with having three games
out. That was difficult because
as a footballer you always want
to play and give your best for
the team, so it was tough to go
through at the time.
“It was the same with the injury
but again I had to accept it and
work hard on getting fit again.
Now I am back and feel good
and looking forward to the run of
games that we have.”
Mane will be particularly keen
to play his part in the weeks
ahead having missed out onWords: most of January 2017 due to his
William Hughes
commitments with Senegal at
the Africa Cup of Nations.
“That was hard [missing the
Liverpool fixtures] but it is always
a very proud moment when
you are asked to represent
your country. Obviously this
is a busy period in the season
and we know it could be a
very important one. We are all
professional and know how to be
ready for it. They are all exciting
games. We know that we are a
strong team with good players
so everything is possible.
“Things have been going well,
so now we are looking forward to
this next run of games and trying
to win them.”
Sadio's double in the 7-
Champions League rout of
Spartak Moscow 20 days ago
took his tally to seven for the
season and kept him on course
to top his tally of 13 in 2016/17.
His goal in the 3-0 successat Stoke City on 29 November
had been his first in the Premier
League for more than three
months but he is perfectly
relaxed about his return in front
of goal, particularly as a member
of a team whose league haul
of 38 from their first 18 games
was topped only by the two
Manchester clubs.
“As a footballer and a forward
player you always want and love
to score goals and give assists.
I think the goals will come for
me. Going for a period without
scoring can happen in football
and is part of the game. It's more
important that the team wins
and if I'm not scoring hopefully I
can give assists.
“I'm relaxed – it's not something
I worry about. Scoring without a
win for the team doesn't make
sense but if you score and the
team win then it's always a
great feeling. I have great players
alongside me and as a team we
are scoring a lot of goals.”
No-one more so than summer
signing Mo Salah who has taken
the Premier League by storm in
the opening half of the 2017/
campaign. The Egyptian took
his Liverpool tally to 20 with his
superb solo strike in the 4-0 win
at Bournemouth nine days ago
and Mane has been impressed
by Salah's impact at Liverpool.
“I am very happy for him. He is
doing very well for us and we are
very happy to have him in the
squad because he has quickly
become a very important player
for us. I am going to keep trying
to help him to score even more
goals for the team. He is a very,
very good player and with his
pace he is unbelievable. No-one
can catch him and he is also a
very clever player.”
The Senegalese and the
Egyptian form half of the
attacking quartet dubbed the
'Fab Four' this season, linking
up with Brazilian duo Philippe
Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.
While the 25-year-old is happy
to be part of such an offensive
line-up, he also points out that it
takes eleven to make a team.
“I always enjoy playing with