Jordan Henderson has urged Liverpool to tie Jon Flanagan down to a new contract as soon as possible.
Having not featured in competitive senior action since the final day of the 2013-14 season, Flanagan made his return from a knee injury in the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Exeter City on January 20.
The right-back whose contract is due to expire in June is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season, however, as his comeback is managed steadily by the club.
But Henderson believes the 23-year-old is deserving of a new deal for the effort he put in to make his way back into the first-team set-up.
He s a huge player for us. It s huge that it gets sorted out. I don t think players and people like Flanno grow on trees to be honest, he said.
You have people like him and Stevie [Steven Gerrard] and Carra [Jamie Carragher] who have come through the academy. The fans feel as though they are one of them really which they are.
His whole family supports Liverpool. He has been a Liverpool supporter since he was a kid and he has had a difficult time for the last two years, but what I have seen him do behind the scenes is incredible really.
He is a huge player for us, a huge player for the club and the fans as well. It is in everyone s interests for that to be sorted out soon.
I ve seen how hard he has been working and the attitude he has had with the injury.
I was only out for three or four months but that felt long for me and it was difficult for me to handle because I had never experienced that length of time out.
Every day in here he came in with a smile on his face, did his work and for me you need to be rewarding people like that for what he did.
Now he s back and the games he has played it is as if he has never been away. He has been brilliant and in training he s exactly the same.
