Fowler to knuckle down at Anfield
Thursday, 18 January 2001 08:08Liverpool's out-of-favour striker Robbie Fowler has pledged to knuckle down and fight to regain his place in Gerard Houllier's first team. The England international has slipped down the Anfield pecking order since series of injury problems. Emile Heskey and Michael Owen have forged an excellent partnership up front for the Reds this season, and the arrival of Finland skipper Jari Litmanen cast more doubts on Fowler's future at the club.
An unprovoked attack outside a nightclub has also rocked the player, but he insists he has no plans to walk away from Merseyside. In aninterview with icons.com: "Even though this has been a difficult time for me for one reason or another, I'm coping okay. The manager has got to make decisions when he picks the team and, at the minute, I'm not involved as much as I'd like. But now it's up to me. I don't think you can afford to dwell on things."
Fowler has been linked with a number of Premiership clubs of late, but insists he is going to fight for his Anfield future. He added: "There have been stories in the papers about Chelsea and Aston Villa coming in for me. When I first started in football this sort of thing would have probably affected me in some way. But I think I've been in the game long enough now to handle any transfer speculation. You've always got to try to stay positive and work that bit harder. Hopefully, by doing that, I'll be able to prove to the manager that I'm worth a place in the team."
Fowler also issued a big thank you to the Liverpool faithful for backing in him in his hour of need. He stressed: "The past couple of weeks haven't exactly been the easiest in my career, but I have to say that the support I've received from the Liverpool fans has been nothing short of magnificent. It was great to hear them chant my name at Aston Villa last Saturday when I wasn't even in the 16 for the game. But, to be fair, that wasn't the first time they've got behind me when I haven't played or haven't been involved. It proves that I'm well liked, and that kind of backing goes a long way."
Filed by Shane Murray
