Calum Scanlon has revealed that Liverpool want him to play as many games as possible during his second loan spell at Cardiff City, following his performance in the 1-1 draw against Wrexham earlier this week.
The left-back started his first game back at Cardiff City Stadium against the club's Welsh rivals, with head coach Brian Barry-Murphy facing a defensive crisis at the start of the campaign.
New Liverpool deal and loan return
Scanlon recently signed a new long-term deal at Anfield before re-joining the south Wales side on another one-season loan, after featuring for Cardiff during their sole season in League One.
The 21-year-old's parent club have expressed their desire to see the defender feature for the Championship side this term, with Scanlon hoping to get as many games as possible following an injury-riddled last campaign.
He said: "I think coming here as well, I'd love to get games. That's what they (Liverpool) want as well, as many games as possible.
"That's all my plan really — just to get loads more experience to help out the team here as well. I think it's a brilliant place to do that."
Scanlon on signing new Liverpool deal
Scanlon signed a new Liverpool deal before re-joining the Bluebirds and said it represented a significant milestone in his career.
"Signing that was a big moment for me," he said. "It shows that the hard work that I've done has paid off. Now that's out of the way, I still have things that I want to achieve and stuff like that.
"It's just a constant cycle where I've done this now, what's next, what's next? There's no stopping, so just keep improving from there."
Barry-Murphy's influence
Scanlon also discussed what it is like being part of Barry-Murphy's style of play, and how similar it may be to Andoni Iraola's at Liverpool.
He said: "Yeah, I'd say it's very similar. Obviously, there are differences, but both clubs are very ambitious in how they want to play.
"I think that was really enjoyable for me to be a part of. It's something where I like to play in that type of system as well. The way the manager likes to play, I think, is amazing."
The Englishman also revealed the part Barry-Murphy played in getting him a second chance to make an impression at Cardiff.
"I spoke to the manager at the end of the season, and he said he'd be in touch, which was good news," Scanlon added.
"Then, once I got back from pre-season with Liverpool, he started to ring me and showed me the ambitions for the season and how he thinks I can play in the team."
Ready to play
The Cardiff head coach also praised the full-back, indicating he is much more prepared for a season in the Welsh capital than he was this time last year.
Barry-Murphy said: "We feel as if he's in a lot better place than he was last year because he had the experience with ourselves and had a full pre-season with Liverpool.
"So last year there was a lot of patience to try and get him up to speed. Now we feel as if he is ready to play."
With squad depth starting to become an issue in certain areas of the team, the 48-year-old revealed when he decided to try to bring Scanlon back to the Welsh capital.
"Obviously, I'm sure Calum wanted to play for Liverpool and had his own ideas, but if that wasn't the case, we were hopeful that the time he spent in Cardiff previously would influence his decision to return," he added.
The Liverpool loanee also offers an alternative to Joel Bagan on the left side of the defence.
When asked about having the left-back pair, Barry-Murphy said: "In the different way they play the game, they can be equally as effective in their own way, but it's just nice to have a genuine alternative to Joel because last season we didn't really have that.
"It just gives it a different dimension."
