- Chiesa made first appearance since September against Southampton
- Italy international came off the bench for a mixed 45 minutes
- Reds manager Arne Slot calls for patience as winger rebuilds fitness
Arne Slot has warned Liverpool fans they should not expect to see the best of winger Federico Chiesa so soon after his return from injury.
Summer signing Chiesa came off the bench in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Southampton to make just his fourth appearance of the season, having spent the last three months sidelined with various injury issues.
It was a mixed showing from Chiesa, but Slot insisted that is to be expected from a player still getting back up to speed.
"I don't know if we saw it the same, but I think what I saw is what you can expect," Slot said. "If a player is out for five or six months you cannot expect [too much].
"I saw ups and downs. I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, 'OK, you can do better than this'. For me, that's completely normal if a player has been out for so long and plays his first game in five or six months.
"I already said before that it makes it so difficult for me because normally in the pre-season a player gets three, four or five games especially and then he's only out for four or five weeks. Instead, he was out for so long, so to get him back to his best level is not easy, but it was good to see that he showed some quality already today.
"But it's the same for him like the youngsters, it's not enough to play at this level, you have to compete with Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Lucho [Luis Diaz], Darwin [Nunez] and Diogo [Jota]. But it's good to see that he's back and that he had a few good moments in the game."
Chiesa's next chance to impress could come in Liverpool's showdown with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday - a fixture they controversially lost last season after Luis Diaz's goal was incorrectly ruled offside.
