'How it's all going right for Raheem'
Glen Johnson firmly believes that a spell out of the spotlight of first-team football was the starting point of Raheem Sterling's emergence as one of the Barclays Premier League's in-form players.
The 19-year-old turned in a Man of the Match performance against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, pressing the opposition, reclaiming possession, surging forward and creating chances for colleagues.
It epitomised a campaign which simply gets better every single week for the young Englishman, who has become a mainstay of Brendan Rodgers' starting line-ups since the beginning of December.
One year ago, the scenario was completely different; after being utilised regularly during the first half of the 2012-13 season, the manager withdrew Sterling from senior action to prevent burn-out.
Allowing the No.31 time to develop away from the pressure of the Premier League was a masterstroke according to Johnson, with the decision bearing rich fruit for the Reds at the moment.
"He has been class," the full-back told Liverpoolfc.com of his junior teammate. "When he first burst onto the scene, everyone could see how good he could be.
"I know he had a couple of months where he wasn't in the team as much as he would have liked, but I think he has bounced back better for that.
"At the moment, he's probably one of the first names on the teamsheet."
Sterling's scintillating displays for his club have been rewarded at international level too, with Roy Hodgson selecting the fleet-footed wide-man for England's friendly with Denmark last month.
Johnson, who reached a half-century of caps for the Three Lions in the same fixture, expects the Jamiacan-born star to not only travel to the World Cup, but rack up plenty of appearances in the future.
"It's all kind of coming together at the right time for him," he continued. "If he keeps playing the way he is, he's definitely got a chance to be involved in the summer.
"I made my debut around a similar age as Raheem, but obviously I had a few years where I was in and out - so I didn't get as many caps as maybe I should have by now.
"But hopefully Raheem won't have that gap and I'm sure he'll go on and get more."
[OTPA_WIDGET_CONTENT]
Liverpool's handsome 4-0 victory over Spurs last weekend launched Rodgers' outfit to the summit of the Premier League, with six fixtures left to navigate before the race concludes.
After Sunday's clash, the manager lavished praise on the maturity of young players such as Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Jon Flanagan - and Johnson backed them to remain calm at crucial stages.
He added: "The main thing for the young lads that haven't done it is to stay calm and probably try not to pay attention to it.
"Everyone outside will be lumping pressure on the club and individuals, but if we just take each game as it comes and keep doing what we're doing, the results and the league table position will take care of themselves."