Peter Crouch is happy to fight for his place in the Liverpool side as boss Rafael Benitez prepared for a summer spending spree.
The club's top scorer this season accepts he is as vulnerable as anyone else as Benitez considers how to spend the anticipated big transfer budget, with the takeover by US sports moguls George Gillett and Tom Hicks on the brink of total completion.
Benitez knows he must sign a 20-goal a season striker, as well as Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin - who will move to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season on a Bosman free transfer.
There is a major doubt over whether veteran Robbie Fowler will still be at the club next season - but it is widely accepted Benitez will want to buy a top European striker to give Liverpool the chance of competing for the Barclays Premiership title.
The possibility of such a spending spree is not lost on Crouch, who is currently recovering from an operation on his broken nose which will sideline him until the beginning of next month.
Crouch said: "There's a lot of speculation about what might happen in the summer but you just have to accept it as part of being at a big club like Liverpool.
"It will be tougher to get in the team and nobody's place will be certain.
"It means you will have to work as hard as possible to keep your place. That does not bother me. The fact that the manager will be looking to strengthen the squad can only be good news."
Crouch, who could be back in time for Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final with PSV Eindhoven next month, is certainly out of England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Isreal and Andorra on March 24 and 28.
The club's top scorer this season accepts he is as vulnerable as anyone else as Benitez considers how to spend the anticipated big transfer budget, with the takeover by US sports moguls George Gillett and Tom Hicks on the brink of total completion.
Benitez knows he must sign a 20-goal a season striker, as well as Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin - who will move to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season on a Bosman free transfer.
There is a major doubt over whether veteran Robbie Fowler will still be at the club next season - but it is widely accepted Benitez will want to buy a top European striker to give Liverpool the chance of competing for the Barclays Premiership title.
The possibility of such a spending spree is not lost on Crouch, who is currently recovering from an operation on his broken nose which will sideline him until the beginning of next month.
Crouch said: "There's a lot of speculation about what might happen in the summer but you just have to accept it as part of being at a big club like Liverpool.
"It will be tougher to get in the team and nobody's place will be certain.
"It means you will have to work as hard as possible to keep your place. That does not bother me. The fact that the manager will be looking to strengthen the squad can only be good news."
Crouch, who could be back in time for Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final with PSV Eindhoven next month, is certainly out of England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Isreal and Andorra on March 24 and 28.
). He offers something different than our other strikers and for that reason alone, Rafa will not let him go.
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