Alberto Moreno hopes to establish himself in the Liverpool line-up amid battle with Joe Gomez

Alberto Moreno hopes to keep his place in the Liverpool line-up after beating summer signing Joe Gomez to the left-back role following four consecutive starting appearances. The Spaniard was expected to become a crucial part of Brendan Rodgers's side this season after adapting to the club following his move from Sevilla in the summer of 2014.

But Moreno started the five first Premier League games of the campaign on the bench after the versatile Gomez impressed in his position – with some reports in Spain claiming he even was offered a move back to his homeland on deadline day, to replace Fabio Coentrao at Real Madrid.

But the 23-year-old waited for his chance and took it when Rodgers handed him his first starting appearance alongside a number of fringe players in the Europa League opener against Bordeaux – with Gomez playing in the heart of the defence. Since then, Moreno has played against Norwich, Carlisle and Aston Villa, ahead of Gomez.

"What you've got to do is keep working, get your head down in training and work really hard so you're ready when you get the chance," he told Premier League Productions as quoted by Liverpool's website. "The manager thought it was the right time to put me in against Bordeaux and I grabbed my chance.

"I think I've done reasonably well since then; I've had three more games and I think I've played well, but obviously I'm still a young player and I know I can still continue to improve. I hope I'm giving the fans something to cheer about with my play and hopefully I'll continue to impress them with my performances."

The Spaniard may make his 50<sup>th appearance for the club in the Europa League game against Sion on 1 October should Rodgers keep him in his plans. Moreno is delighted with the achievement but says the best for him at the club is yet to come as he is very happy with his life at Liverpool.

He said: "I couldn't feel more settled, I'm really happy – not just myself, but my family. We love the club and the city. When my 50th game happens, I'll be so pleased. To have my name among the illustrious players that have played for this club, to have featured in 50 games in just over a year, I'm really happy.

"But I'm not going to settle for that, I don't want to take that as an achievement, I want to be playing more and more games. I want to be here for many more years and play as many games as I can."