Andoni Iraola has dealt a blow to Harvey Elliott’s Liverpool first-team hopes.
Elliott is back in the Anfield senior ranks after an ill-fated season-long loan with Aston Villa where he made just nine appearances in all competitions.
Iraola initially backed the returning midfielder to have a future at the club and hailed his ‘eagerness’ since reporting back to the AXA Training Centre.
But while Elliott was routinely involved in the Reds’ pre-season campaign, he missed out on a squad place for their Premier League opener at Newcastle.
Ahead of Nottingham Forest’s visit on Saturday, Iraola admitted that he overlooked the 23-year-old due to preferring other options for the bench.
He said: “With Harvey, with [Luke] Chambers, with some of the players that I decided – because I can only choose 20 – to leave out, it’s a matter of finding the balance on the bench.
“In Harvey’s case, he’s trying, he’s improving every week, but I still prefer other options.
“Probably I was in doubt with James McConnell in terms of getting into the squad, and I decided to put James in the squad.
“But it’s another new week, new chances for everyone, and they have to keep that mentality.”
Iraola also conceded that he ‘cannot guarantee’ Cody Gakpo will still be a Liverpool player when the summer transfer window closes on September 1.
Gakpo’s immediate future is under increasing scrutiny with Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola set to seal a move worth £120 million.
Anfield chiefs are still pursuing a second wide attacker with Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr emerging as the latest contender in the summer-long search.
The Netherlands international, meanwhile, has attracted strong interest from both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City within a matter of weeks
“He’s playing very well for us. He’s been very good since he came back from the World Cup after a holiday,” added Iraola.
“A very good attitude and I hope we can keep at the level, because I think he’s been very influential in our games.
“When the market is open, we have a lot of players, almost 30 players, you cannot guarantee anything with anyone. You never know who is going to arrive.
“I would like to know how the market finishes and ‘we finish with this one, this one’, but I don’t know.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with any of our players. I cannot guarantee anything.
“You think I can smell who we are going to sign and in what positions, but experience shows you that [you can’t make guarantees].
“If there’s an opportunity on the last day and you think, ‘OK, it improves us’, let’s take it.”