Andoni Iraola is enjoying working with Rio Ngumoha so far, with the 18-year-old Liverpool forward continuing to develop under the guidance of the Spaniard's coaching staff

Andoni Iraola says Liverpool is working hard to help "elite" talent Rio Ngumoha to fulfill his potential after he impressed earlier this week against LASK in the Champions League.

The 18-year-old was selected to play for England during the international break and has already played seven times under Iraola at club level this term. But the Spaniard is keen for Ngumoha to continue heading in the right direction and further smooth out his overall game.

Part of that process is deploying him on both flanks, with Ngumoha's favored side the left. He has also regularly operated on the right, with versatility something that Iraola values from all of his forwards.

"I think he knows that he is elite at certain things," Iraola said. "If you want to put someone one-on-one, then Rio is one of the best players you would choose because he is difficult to contain.

"There are areas he has to improve, especially without the ball. He has to get used to the demands of the Premier League in terms of duels, and this happens when you come from the youth system.

"There you are used to being superior to the others and now you face very strong opposition and it is not easy to sustain those duels, but he is improving a lot."

Ngumoha is yet to score or assist for Liverpool this season, but he is a constant threat down the wings.

"Body-wise, he is becoming stronger, and I think he is in a good place," Iraola continued. "Obviously I had seen him play and we had played against him (at Bournemouth), but for us it is a privilege to have Rio in the team because he has just become 18.

"He has already played some minutes with the national team and that is not something normal. Normally you start playing with the national team when you are 20-something and you already have matured a little bit.

"We have to help him because luckily for us, he is not the finished product. He can still improve because he is still 18 and I hope we can help him with these processes."

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Ngumoha could feature for Liverpool again on Saturday as the Reds travel to Brentford. Iraola's side has won just twice in the Premier League so far this season, but starts the weekend in ninth place.