'I don't think anybody here has seen my best, yet'

Such was the release of pent-up emotion and frustration, Okera Simmonds almost cried.

“Obviously I didn’t, I held it in! My mum and dad were dead proud and I felt on top of the world because I’d been through a lot. No-one could tell, but…” the Liverpool U18s striker’s words trail off.

Simmonds is describing the moment he opened the scoring for Neil Critchley’s team in their 2-1 mini-derby victory over Everton in January.

After a swift exchange of passes with Rafael Camacho, the 17-year-old forward swept an unerring right-footed shot into the far corner. 

It was a goal that had been months in the making. After months of physical and mental toil, Simmonds - a Manchester-born forward who joined Liverpool at U11 level - experienced a feeling he defines simply as ‘relief’.

“My road’s been up and down, because sometimes I’ve been out of the squad or unfit so then I wasn’t playing,” the teenager explains to Liverpoolfc.com, during our conversation at the Academy.

“It was hard sometimes, because I’d lose my head and get angry and beat myself up because I wasn’t in the team. I’d still try to be myself and do the right things, so people would still think was confident, but deep down I was angry at myself. 

“But I didn’t want to affect my teammates, I didn’t want them to think ‘why’s he being like this?’ and make them have a negative attitude towards their games and stuff. 

“So I kept it to myself. It’s kind of bad that I did, but I’ve learned to cope with it now and I think I’m a bit better. Football’s going good for me this year because I’m back in the squad.

“Last year I wasn’t in the squad much because I was unfit. I wasn’t carrying injuries, but my fitness levels were low. Then in pre-season, I left the club for a bit because I was in a bad place mentally, but Alex [Inglethorpe] and Critch played a big role in me staying. 

“They’re top coaches and they wanted to work with me, so I thought I should stay because I can’t go anywhere bigger. I came back with a groin injury, but I didn’t tell them straight away because I wanted to play.

“I played once and scored but then I was out for about three weeks. I’d be doing physio work and hard running - I’d have to stay out running when everyone else went in after training. 

“That made me feel stronger, and mentally I became stronger because I completed it. I didn’t think I could, to be honest, but the coaches were giving me good feedback. 

“Then I started getting picked for the squads but wasn’t coming on, which was frustrating. But that’s football, I had to get on with it. 

“But by the end of the year I was feeling fit again and then after Christmas I came back and I got my first start against Everton…”

Simmonds’ footballing background pre-dating his move to Liverpool is, in his own words, ‘a complicated story’.

Raised in the Longsight area of south Manchester, the England U16 international grew up as a United fan in a household of City supporters.

“Pretty much everyone in my family supports City, but I wanted to be different. They don’t like it! When the derby’s on, our house is chaos!” he laughs.

But while his allegiance off the pitch wasn't in doubt, he did, for a short time, have divided loyalties on it.

“When I was five or six, my friend played for United. I went to training with him one day, and the coach asked if I wanted to join in as well,” Simmonds recalls.

“I had to run all the way back to his house to get some boots. I trained and the coach said ‘you’re a natural, we want you to play for us straight away’. I was so happy.

“Then when I was about eight, City came to my school and did a soccer school thing and the same thing happened with Terry John, who was a coach there but is now a scout here at Liverpool. 

“He asked me to go down to City, so I was playing for City and United at the same time but they didn’t know!

“When I was nine my mum said I should join a Sunday League team just in case I got released, and that was fine because I wanted to play even more football. 

“The coach recommended Fletcher Moss [a club that also counts Danny Welbeck and Marcus Rashford among its former players], so I was playing for United, City and them. 

“My mum told me I had to choose between City and United and because I supported United, I went for them. But at the end of U9s, United released me. 

“I was crying for weeks, but I still had Fletcher Moss and Liverpool spotted me and I started playing here.”

Quickly, Simmonds was able to put the disappointment of leaving his boyhood club behind him as he found a new footballing home in Kirkby.

He rose rapidly from the Academy’s development squad to the point when, at the age of 14, he was offered scholarship terms and represented the U18s against former club City.

“That was one of my highlights, and then I got selected for England U16s when I was 15,” Simmonds says.

Maintaining such an upward trajectory was always going to be a tough ask, though, even without the aforementioned fitness issues that began affecting him.

But, despite the setbacks, Simmonds kept training, kept working, kept striving. 

Giving up was never an option, and his dedication was finally rewarded on a freezing January day at Finch Farm.

“I just had to carry on with it because it’s football and if you want to make it and be the best then you’ve got to take the ups and downs,” Simmonds adds.

“Obviously I believe in my ability. People have told me I’m not good enough and stuff, but I don’t listen to them, I just carried on doing my thing.

“And then in the Everton game - I can’t even describe how it felt to score. There’s no better game to score in, either.

“I started the next game against Man City in the Youth Cup and although it was a disappointing result because we got knocked out, I did OK. I got an assist and did my defensive work. Alex told me after the game that I’d done well for the team and since then I’ve been in the team.

“Since then I haven’t looked back. I’ve been back in the side and I’ve scored a couple of goals and got a couple of assists. All the hard work is starting to pay off now. 

“It’s basically just consistency I need now. I need to keep pushing to hopefully get into the U23s, then hopefully the first team at Melwood. 

“I know I’m capable, I know I’ve got the ability, but it’s about mentality and being consistent and showing it more often.”

With 11 appearances and five goals - including one in Friday's 1-1 draw with West Ham United - under his belt since his return to action in the mini-derby, Simmonds is ‘in a good place now’.

But the contentment he feels should not be mistaken for satisfaction. 

“No, there’s still plenty more left in the tank,” is Simmonds’ reply, when asked if he’s back to his best.

“I’m in a good place now but I’ve got a lot more to give. No-one here has seen my best yet, I don’t think.”

Simmonds recently featured in Liverpoolfc.com's 'Meet the Academy' series. Click here to read more about the young striker.