The Welsh midfielder, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, is determined to kick on in the new campaign and prove his worth

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen has promised fans of the club that they have yet to see the best of him, and is pledging to make a significant impact at Anfield next season.

The Welshman joined the club from Swansea last summer but has endured an injury-hit maiden season and after having had persistent problems with his shoulder, underwent surgery recently which has ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old is confident he can improve on his performances next season and pleaded with the Kop faithful for time to impress.

“The fans have definitely not seen the best of me yet,” Allen told the club’s official website.

“It’s no secret that recent months haven’t gone great for me. I am confident and faithful that next season I can perform a lot better.

“Unfortunately this season’s a write-off in regards to the injury but the plan is, and I’ve got a bit of time, to make sure it’s right over the summer break in time for pre-season.”

Allen also revealed the injury had been plaguing him throughout the season and felt he should have addressed the situation earlier than he did.

“It had been there for a while so I’d almost grown used to it but it’s got worse and worse and I was probably kidding myself by not getting it sorted a bit sooner,” he continued.

“It’s difficult to say whether it affected my game – I don’t want to use it as an excuse, that’s for sure. But I’d like to see how it is once it’s fixed and I’d like to think it’s going to help me massively.”

While some Liverpool fans are still dubious about the signing of Allen, the Welshman is looking forward to playing his way back into the plans of manager Brendan Rodgers and proving his critics wrong.

“I’m excited and looking forward to being 100 per cent fit,” the midfielder added. “These things can often play on your mind. Hopefully this will bring out the best in me.”

The Reds boss has invoked the spirit of iconic managers Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley in his task to lead the club forward but insists he is not a prisoner of a prosperous past

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has stated that his ultimate goal at the helm of the famed club is to rebuild the side in the manner of legends Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.

The Scotsman’s work with the Merseysiders from 1959 to 1974 ushered in a new era of prosperity on the pitch for the Anfield outfit, setting the stage for former assistant Paisley to initiate the club’s most successful era over the following nine years.

With the Reds having brought home only a single piece of silverware, the 2012 Capital One Cup, since the start of the 2006 season, Rodgers is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his celebrated predecessors in returning the side to prominence.

“First and foremost there is no comparison in relation to those greats of the past; those two managers will always be remembered here. For someone like me, my job is to build the club again, like Bill Shankly did very successfully and that set up the many successful eras that everyone remembers Liverpool for,” he said.

“That’s what I’m trying to replicate and it’s a huge challenge, because the club is an institution, but it is a challenge that I’ve enjoyed every minute of and all the staff and players have also. I’ve seen real progress this season and I would expect us to continue that over the next couple of years. “

Rodgers went on to point to Liverpool’s fans as the greatest source of inspiration in his endeavors at Anfield, and commented that while he is constantly reminded of the club’s illustrious history, he does not feel held captive by the past.

“I’ve been very pleased because at the end of the day the supporters are the people that count. You always want to win games and to develop the team, so it’s very important that you have encouragement from your fans. Our supporters have shown exactly why they are so well renowned – I’ve really felt and appreciated their support,” he continued.

“It’s everything and things like the ‘This is Anfield’ sign are symbols of the great past. What is also important, though, is that we are not held hostage to our history.

“This is an incredible club, you only need to walk into the reception to see a European Cup in the hallway, so you know that everyday you come in you have to be good.

“It’s important that we use that as motivation and commitment for our future. The wonderful players and managers that we have had here provide inspiration to us all and it gives us a great focus going forward to try and recreate those memories.”

Pete is in fine form and hit a second consecutive double last week, this weekend he has two more selections from the Premier League including one from Liverpool v West Ham

Last week we recorded our second consecutive double as both Manchester City and Manchester United won their respective matches to nil and hopefully we can keep this good run going.

As always here we are following a system bet and you are advised to keep stakes reasonable and always try and obtain the best price available.

This weekend both selections again come from the Premier League and I believe we have a couple of strong selections.

For our first match we look to Sunday when Brendan Rodgers’ improving Liverpool side take on a West Ham team that virtually secured their Premier League status with a 3-1 victory over West Brom last weekend.

Liverpool have a fairly strong recent home record against the Hammers:  They have won three, drawn one and lost none and, in all of these four matches, both sides failed to find the net.

Indeed, if we examine Liverpool’s recent home record when they have won at Anfield, eight of the last 10 victories have been to nil. Sam Allardyce’s side do not have a great record when facing teams of Liverpool’s grading and their record reads won none, drawn four and lost four and both teams did not score in five of these matches.

Interestingly, when West Ham have been defeated away from home then both sides have scored in only four of their last 14 away defeats.

The “No” selection on both teams to score can be backed at 5/6 (1.83) and for those braver Liverpool to win to nil can be backed at 6/5 (2.20) again .

For our next match we head over to the Carrow Road for a game that Norwich will be looking to win to ensure their own Premier League status when the Canaries take on a struggling Swansea side.

It has to be said that we have some fairly mixed stats here when it comes to Norwich as both sides have found the net in seven of their last 15 home games and in six of their last 10 home games to teams of Swansea’s stature.

However, when looking at Michael Laudrup’s side, we see that this season both teams have scored in only four of Swansea’s 15 away games.

These strong stats carry on when looking at the Swans away record to teams of Norwich’s level where five of their last six matches have seen the “No” selection on both teams to score prove correct. This can be backed at Evens (2.0)

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