Oussama: It's important to us
Oussama Assaidi has promised to give his all to help Liverpool progress in an 'important' competition should he be afforded free rein to stretch his legs against Anzhi Makhachkala's full-backs in Moscow tonight.
The Moroccan was in impressive form against the Russians in the Europa League a fortnight ago, twisting and turning his way down the Anfield touchline and drawing the man of the match plaudits in the Reds' 1-0 win.
And he is hopeful that such an imposing display will have convinced manager Brendan Rodgers he is worthy of a fourth consecutive Europa League start at the Lokomotiv Stadium.
"It was nice to be voted man of the match and I think it can give me confidence," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"I hope the coach will give me more minutes and chances. I will wait for my chance. When I get it I will give everything and hopefully I will do well.
"The Europa League is an important prize to the players and we will go for it. We will go to Moscow with a good mentality and we will go to try and win this game."
The Reds' opponent's Anzhi were bought by Dagestani billionaire Suleyman Kerimov in January 2011 and a month later aqcuired their their first high-profile signing in Brazilian left-back Roberto Carlos.
In the summer of 2011, they added Champions League stars Yuri Zhirkov and Samuel Eto'o to their ranks and in February this year, world-renowned coach Guus Hiddink took up the reins as manager.
This year, Anzhi have started in impressive form and topped the Russian Premier League prior to their visit to Anfield.
Going into Thursday's clash, Hiddink's men are a point off the pace in second position; however, Assaidi is still expecting a tough challenge in the cold Moscow climate.
"They are a good team," he said. "I know two players at Anzhi who play with me in the Moroccan national team - Moubarak Boussoufa and Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez - who are both good players.
"Anzhi are a big team in Russia this year and they have quality players like Eto'o. I hope we can play like we did at home against them and if we do we can get a good result."