Manchester United defender Chris Smalling hopes to feature on Saturday and join the growing list of defenders to score against Liverpool.
Red Devils centre-half wants to make more impact up front
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling hopes to feature on Saturday and join the growing list of defenders to score against Liverpool.
The 22-year-old has already netted two goals this season having scored against Chelsea and rivals Manchester City.
And now the England international expects to be fit for the game as he aims to follow in the footsteps of Gary Pallister, Mikael Silvestre, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea and Wes Brown who have all scored against Liverpool.
Smalling opened his United account at Glanford Park in 2010 when he scored for the Red Devils against Scunthorpe United in the Carling Cup and the centre-back admits he does take time to concentrate on goalscoring.
Impact
"I'm definitely working hard on my role at corners and free-kicks in order to make an impact," he told the club's
official website.
"When I joined, one or two of the coaches pointed out that they were looking for goals from the centre-halves. Obviously Nemanja Vidic scores a few and if you can add goals to your armoury it's a massive plus point."
"Hopefully I'll keep finding the net and contribute a bit more in the future. I don't want us to be relying all the time on the strikers for goals."
Despite having the desire to see his name on the scoresheet more, Smalling recognises that his main aim is to stop strikers and he has kept a keen eye on the development of the Premier League's frontmen.
Changing
"I think centre-forwards are changing a little bit," he added. "We're used to defending against either big strong forwards or quick nippy ones.
"But the likes of Demba Ba and Bobby Zamora as well as a few other strikers in the league, combine elements of both and I think that's made things a little more difficult for defenders. That could be a reason why we're seeing a lot more goals.
"I think you have to give managers a lot of credit for allowing their star players the freedom to roam and get on the ball in advanced areas.
"It's the same thing we do with Wayne Rooney here at United. Those players are all at their best when they can go out and express themselves and run at opposition defences."
