Liverpool striker Jayden Danns was on the bench for the Champions League win over Villarreal on Tuesday evening

Jayden Danns has been declared as "ready to go" with the Liverpool striker looking to put his 18-month injury nightmare behind him.

Danns was on the bench for the third successive Champions League game in the 4-3 win over Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

The 20-year-old hasn't featured for the first team since September last year, shortly after which he suffered a serious hamstring problem before another setback on his comeback with the under-21 side in March.

The forward had previously seen a loan move to Sunderland in January 2025 ultimately scuppered by a back problem that forced him to miss the rest of that campaign and pre-season with Liverpool.

Danns was due to be part of new head coach Andoni Iraola's summer preparations only to be absent with another injury problem, and has subsequently been building his fitness with the U21s.

He featured in the EFL Trophy draw at Rochdale and all five Premier League 2 matches thus far including the first half of the dramatic 1-0 home win over Reading at the weekend.

And U21s head coach Rob Page believes the onus is now on building up the forward's minutes ahead of challenging for more regular first-team squad involvement.

"His fitness is good," said Page. "It was always part of the plan that some games he will play and others he won't. Sometimes he will play 45. It depends on what his training load has been throughout the week.

"If he has done enough work during the week, it might just be that he is getting game time. It's not about 90 minutes - it's about game time to get his sharpness so that he is ready when he is called on.

"He's ready to go. It's just like with any of these top athletes, you have to manage the load throughout the week and be sensible about it."