Daniel Agger was a revelation in the 2007-2008 season. Displacing Sami Hyypia, he became Liverpool’s most important defender.

He was charged with the difficult man marking, but also with bringing the ball out of the defense. His abilities on the ball which extended even to some long range stunners, made Liverpool a far more fluid unit.

As such, his injury last September was devastating. Youngsters Jack Hobbs and Mikel San Jose had to be called in when the centre of defense got too thin, and Martin Skrtel was purchased to help stop the gap.

Still, doubts over complete healing of the metatarsal and other complications led to the Dane being out almost the entire season, much longer than was initially predicted.

To the delight of the Reds staff, Agger completed 75 minutes against Tranmere Rovers as Liverpool began their round of pre-season friendlies.

To the 23 year old, it hailed a new start for his Liverpool career after having been out for 10 agonizing months.

“I am delighted to be back,” he told liverpoolfc.tv. “This has been the most frustrating time of my career. I have just had to look forward, concentrate, and work hard to get myself back to fitness.

“This season ahead is now all-important to me. I have missed so much football over the past year that I feel I am almost starting my career at Liverpool all over again.

“You can say that I have missed a lot of football, or you can say that there is a lot to come.

“I didn’t play and that’s how it is. I am focused on this season and I really, really have been working hard to keep my fitness level up.

“I am ready. I have been working hard right through the summer to get myself fit for this level of football.

“It has been important to get myself ready so I can be available for the first day of the season.”

Part of that new beginning will be to reclaim his starting position, whilst Skrtel will be making a hard push for inclusion, it won’t be easy, but Agger isn’t expecting it to be.

He said: “The competition here now in central defence, as anywhere else in the side, is really tough, so I must be at my best form and fitness.

“It has been frustrating but I have been focused on getting back as soon as possible. I have missed a lot, but there is such a lot more to come for me here.

“I will fight for my place and I am sure that the other centre-halves here will do just the same.”

Manager Rafa Benitez was pleased with the development, especially as he will now be 4 players deep in the center of defense. Overall, he was pleased with the Rovers performance.

“I think Agger did okay,” he said. “The main thing for us was to see if he could come through and he had no problems so he will be a good plus for the team.

“This is the type of game you want so you can see if the players are fit. We have also seen a fantastic goal and some good play in attack, so it was positive day.”