Rhys Williams has admitted his Liverpool team-mates didn't know who he was when he was promoted to first-team training.
Williams was expecting to be sent out on loan at the start of the season after spending the 2019-2020 campaign with non league club Kidderminster but Jurgen Klopp decided to keep the youngster at Anfield.
The defender recalled his nerves ahead of the first session and how he wasn't recognised by the rest of the squad.
'Nobody knew who I was!' he said in an interview with Goal.
'I'd say 90 per cent of the players who go up there, the [senior] players will have a rough idea of who it is. But nobody knew me!'
The centre back usually finds himself up against Liverpool's front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino during Friday's 11 v 11 practice game.
'It’s a headache!' he continued. 'There’s been a complete step up in my game in terms of defending, I’d say, because trying to defend against those three, it’s a pain.
'They train like it’s a match, so you know you’ll get 100% from them, no matter what. They’re never not up for it. It’s a nightmare defending against them!'
Long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez has seen Williams and Nat Phillips move up the pecking order.
Another injury, this time to Joel Matip, saw the 19-year-old make his Premier League debut against Tottenham in December.
The defender only found out he would be playing a few hours before the game when Pep Lijnders told him Matip had failed his fitness test.
Spurs were top of the league at the time but a 2-1 victory for the Reds took them above Jose Mourinho's side.
Williams has only featured in one other league games this season, when he came off the bench against West Brom following another injury to Matip.
The youngster has also six appearances in this season's Champions League.
For the last two league games, Klopp has opted to start Jordan Henderson alongside Fabinho at centre back. However, Matip is likely to return against Burnley tonight after taking part in full training this week.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com