Ryan Babel is hoping Rafa Benitez continues to give him the chance to impress in the Liverpool first team.
The 23-year-old winger was restricted to 14 minutes in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United as the Holland international returned to the Reds bench to bring a run of three successive starts to end.
Babel has expressed his displeasure at playing a bit-part role at Anfield, most infamously in an outburst on Twitter when he was excluded from the squad to play Stoke in mid-January.
The former Ajax performer has been all-too familiar with the sidelines throughout his time on Merseyside and looked destined for a move away from the club in January when Birmingham City came knocking with an £8million bid.
But since holding talks with Benitez about his future following his online vent, Babel has responded with some improved performances that have seen the mercurial Dutchman begin to look like the player Liverpool paid £11.5million for in July 2007.
And the Amsterdam-born forward has set his sights on playing a significant role for the rest of the Reds' campaign which sees them gunning for a top-four finish in the league, as well as Europa League glory.
Confident
"Every player wants to get a run of games to show what he can do. I hope I can continue to show more - if I can then I will be happy," Babel, who has targeted a starting berth in Sunday's clash against Sunderland, told the Liverpool Echo.
"Hopefully I can give something back to the squad. I'm slowly feeling more confident.
"I'm playing games now and want to show what I can do."
Babel insists he is keen to entertain supporters by showing off his attacking skills, and eyes a regular run-in to boost his chances of grabbing a World Cup place with Holland.
"The fans expect me always to dribble and take men on. It's not always possible but I try to do it as much as I can," he added.
"I'd like to take on men and hopefully I'll show more of that in the future.
"I know if I play a lot of games then I'll have a good chance of going to the World Cup."
The 23-year-old winger was restricted to 14 minutes in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United as the Holland international returned to the Reds bench to bring a run of three successive starts to end.
Babel has expressed his displeasure at playing a bit-part role at Anfield, most infamously in an outburst on Twitter when he was excluded from the squad to play Stoke in mid-January.
The former Ajax performer has been all-too familiar with the sidelines throughout his time on Merseyside and looked destined for a move away from the club in January when Birmingham City came knocking with an £8million bid.
But since holding talks with Benitez about his future following his online vent, Babel has responded with some improved performances that have seen the mercurial Dutchman begin to look like the player Liverpool paid £11.5million for in July 2007.
And the Amsterdam-born forward has set his sights on playing a significant role for the rest of the Reds' campaign which sees them gunning for a top-four finish in the league, as well as Europa League glory.
Confident
"Every player wants to get a run of games to show what he can do. I hope I can continue to show more - if I can then I will be happy," Babel, who has targeted a starting berth in Sunday's clash against Sunderland, told the Liverpool Echo.
"Hopefully I can give something back to the squad. I'm slowly feeling more confident.
"I'm playing games now and want to show what I can do."
Babel insists he is keen to entertain supporters by showing off his attacking skills, and eyes a regular run-in to boost his chances of grabbing a World Cup place with Holland.
"The fans expect me always to dribble and take men on. It's not always possible but I try to do it as much as I can," he added.
"I'd like to take on men and hopefully I'll show more of that in the future.
"I know if I play a lot of games then I'll have a good chance of going to the World Cup."
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