£15million man says he can fill the void left by injured midfielder

Joe Allen says he is ready to fill the void left by injured Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva.

The £15million midfielder came on to replace the Brazilian 20 minutes into Saturday’s Merseyside derby, with Lucas understood to have aggrivated a groin problem.

The 27-year-old is waiting for the results of a scan, but there is a fear he is facing several weeks on the sidelines.

And former Swansea midfielder Allen says he is keen to step in and help the team in their push for Champions League qualification.

“When you are on the bench you always know there’s that chance that someone might pick up an injury and you need to come on,” Allen told the Liverpool Echo.

“From a personal point of view, it was great to be involved in such a big game. But at the same time you feel gutted for your team-mate who has come off.

“Injuries have been an issue for me this season. Thankfully, I’ve never had any serious ones in my time here.

“But my season has been broken up by minor injuries and each time it takes you a little while to get back to the level you want to be at.

“It’s been frustrating but hopefully I can stay fit now and help us finish the season strongly. I’m confident that if I stay fit and get myself in this team I can help and show what I can do.

“We will give everything to get into the top four. We have ground to make up and work to do but it starts in our next game against Spurs.

“They had a great win against Arsenal so we will need to make sure we’re on top of our game to get the three points. It makes for an exciting game.”