Roberto Firmino has told talkSPORT that he plans to return for Liverpool more motivated than ever after his World Cup disappointment.

Firmino was surprisingly not called up to Brazil’s squad for Qatar, despite previously being a regular under manager Tite as well as enjoying a superb start to the season.

The forward began his campaign in excellent form with seven goals and three assists in the Premier League, making him the Reds’ top league scorer before the break.

He’s since picked up an injury with Liverpool now back in action, but plans to carry on his stand-out campaign and fire Jurgen Klopp’s side to success in the remainder of the season.

He said: “I’m already healed, thank God. I’ll probably train tomorrow.

“Then all being well I’ll be ready not for the next game [Leicester] but the one after that [Brentford]. So all great.”

Firmino continued: “Individually speaking, I started very well, of course we, as a team, did not start the season well, but we are coming back.

“Thanks to the work we are doing, and our mentality of never giving up, we’re now back and in form.”

Favourites Brazil eventually made an early World Cup exit at the quarter-final stage, with Firmino back home and unable to help his teammates.

But any fears that his motivation may have been dampened by missing out on the tournament have been put to bed, with the 31-year-old desperate to carry on his hot-streak.

He explained: “Of course it was frustrating not being called up to the World Cup but as I’ve said before that’s part of God’s plan and I am following God’s plan.

“It really does motivate me more and more not having gone to the World Cup so I will work hard to get back into the Selecao.”

With Firmino absent from Liverpool’s first two games since the break, Klopp’s side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Manchester City, but then had a morale-boosting league win over Aston Villa.

That match saw 18-year-old Spaniard Stefan Bajcetic score his first goal for the club, while fellow academy graduate Ben Doak also shined.

Firmino is clearly relishing his role as a senior player helping the club’s new crop of stars progress, and has predicted bright futures for the likes of Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho.

He remarked: “It’s a tremendous pleasure to play alongside the young players. They really help us a lot.

“When they come up to train with us they become important pieces of our team. They help us, we help them as well.

“As you saw in the game, they’re tremendous talents with great promise and definitely in the future they’ll become great players.”

Source: talksport.com