Ben Davies gives access to Liverpool’s game time and lifts the lid at the Anfield – Liverpool Echo exit

Ben Davies has talked about how his lack of playing time at Liverpool affected him and what lessons he learned from his time at Merseyside.

Davies spent eight years at Preston North End and went on loan to York City, Tranmere Rovers, Southport, Newport County and Fleetwood Town before joining Liverpool in 2021. The move to Anfield came on the last day of the transfer window.

However, the centre-back failed to make one first-team appearance for Jurgen Klopp’s side during his time at the club. Liverpool initially signed Davies for just £500,000, which they recouped during the 2021 summer transfer window through the rental fee paid by Sheffield United to take on the 29-year-old for the 2021/22 season.

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Davies then left the Reds permanently last summer. The defender joined Rangers in a £4 million deal, signing a four-year contract with the Ibrox club.

“When I went to Liverpool I couldn’t get many minutes in the team,” Davies revealed. “So when they were building the team, 30 minutes, 45, 60 and then 90, I got five or 10.

“So when I went on loan to Sheffield United and then here, I had to go from five to 90 minutes.

“When you’re on a break in the off-season, you’re running, but that was the problem for me because I was running and then running more when I really had to play some games to get my rhythm going.”

Despite failing to make a competitive appearance for the Reds, Davies is in no way bitter about his time at Merseyside. Instead, he believes a behind-the-scenes look at how things work at one of Europe’s elite clubs is what enabled him to establish himself so successfully at Rangers.

He said: “No, I am grateful for the opportunity and the experience. It opened my eyes to the highest level and what the best players do day in and day out.

“It’s given me life experience and now that I’m on the back of Rangers it definitely helped because I think if I had come here without that move to Liverpool it would have been a big eye-opener.

“What did I get from it? I took out how the elite people and teams in the world work, how they prepare and the standards that apply to the whole club.

“That rubs off on you, even when you’re not playing. You benefit from that. I faced these guys in training day in and day out.

“When I was with Preston and played at Championship level you have an idea of ​​what it would be like to get to the top. But to see it first hand was good for me.”

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