Aurelio fighting to make derby reckoning

Oct 12 2007 by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo

Fabio Aurelio trains for Liverpool FC - Picture courtesy of LFC Magazine _158

FABIO AURELIO is racing to be fit for next weekend’s Goodison derby – so he can erase the memories of last year’s chastening experience.

The Brazilian defender made only his third start for the Reds at Goodison last September following his free transfer from Valencia, and was on the receiving end of a shock defeat.

But he’s desperate to declare his availability for next week’s return, despite limping off against Marseille with a calf injury.

“It’s not a big problem,” he said. “I just got a small tear in my calf and hopefully it should be fine for me to train again next week.

“When you have a big injury like I had and then play some games, it’s normal to get small problems. I’m just glad this happened when there was an international break coming up so I didn't miss too many matches.

“I’ve had a bad time with injuries since I came to Liverpool but I prefer not to look back. I want to look to the future and hope I can show the fans what I’m capable of.

“It’s been a difficult few months and I had to leave the pitch against Marseille. It would be much better if I could finish a game.”

Aurelio was just starting to show the quality Rafa Benitez hoped he would bring to his side when he suffered a ruptured achilles in a 3-0 win at PSV Eindhoven in April.

He had made three successive starts, including an impressive Anfield display against Arsenal, when he was forced onto the treatment table again and didn’t figure again until the Champions League trip to Porto last month.

The unfortunate Brazilian, one of the few senior players still at Melwood during the international break, had just made his third successive start when he was forced off against Marseille, but he remained upbeat afterwards despite the disappointing result.

“You can’t say we are suffering a lack of confidence because we are unbeaten in the Premier League,” he said. “We had a difficult start to our Champions League campaign when we were a man down but we still got a point. We know we can play much better than we did against Marseille.”