Stefan Bajcetic set for temporary role as major new Liverpool challenge emerges after injury

The figure of Stefan Bajcetic was not immediately visible among the crowded pack of Liverpool's Under-21 players at the AXA Training Centre on Wednesday afternoon.

As reporters assembled to the Kirkby base to hear the latest from Jurgen Klopp ahead of Thursday's visit from Sheffield United, U21 boss Barry Lewtas could be seen from a distance, overseeing the efforts from his young charges.

It was unclear to onlookers if Bajcetic was included as part of that particular session but, as Klopp had confirmed last week before reiterating it once more on Wednesday, the midfielder is now with his own age group once more as he aims to get back towards the first-team ranks.

"Stefan trains now fully with the U21s this week," Klopp said. "That means we will take him in training next week to us and then we will see. He is another one coming [back] and that's super-important."

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It's been a frustrating year for Bajcetic, who has been restricted to just two appearances s a result of a long-standing issue related to growing pains.

Having made the breakthrough last season, when he was the deserved beneficiary of opportunities to help an increasingly decrepit midfield department at Anfield, Bajcetic will have been well within his rights to have expected this campaign to be the one that truly integrated him into the first-team setup.

However, an adductor muscle injury, sustained 13 months ago in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth, has had a knock-on effect for a player who the club have always been careful to take their time with.

His only start this term came as a