Liverpool career not over - Mellor

By Mighty Reds
January 20 2006

Neil Mellor insists his loan move to Wigan does not signal the end of his Liverpool career and he’s hoping to prove his worth by getting fit and scoring goals.

Mellor took his chance last season, when called upon in the light of the horrendous injury crisis at Liverpool, and only for injury would have been used on the bench more as Liverpool were fighting on the European and Premier league fronts.

He said:

"I spoke to the manager Rafael Benitez before I came here to Wigan and he told me it would be good for me to go out on loan, score some goals and get fit. He told me I was fifth choice striker at Anfield and I would only be playing for the reserves so this is a great opportunity for me at Wigan.

"I don't see this move as meaning my career at Liverpool is over. I love the club and they have been really good to me. I just want to prove myself, show I can score goals at the top level and stay injury free. It's up to me to show what I can do.

"I have been feeling really good in training and it's the best I've felt for almost two years. Wigan are a good club and I know Stephane Henchoz well so hopefully I can get some games and score a lot of goals. I just love scoring goals and it has been frustrating being out injured for almost a year and I have missed that."

Mellor has only recently recovered from an operation on both knees, which had kept him out of action for almost a year, but scored two goals in two games for the Reserves after making his comeback in January.

Mellor will be eligible to play in Wigans CC match against Arsenal.

"It would be nice to get to a cup final but there's a lot of hard work to be done. Hopefully I will be involved and I can try and help Wigan get to Cardiff," Mellor added.