Jonjo Shelvey says he “might be a hero in Liverpool now” after doing his former club a favour by scoring a stunning late goal for Newcastle in their 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
The Magpies midfielder spent three years at Anfield between 2010 and 2013.
He took in 69 appearances for the Reds, but failed to fulfil the potential on Merseyside that saw him snapped up from Charlton as a teenager.
Shelvey has endured similar struggles for consistency at Newcastle, but was the toast of St James’ Park on Saturday as he crashed home a late leveller against City.
His super strike will also have been welcomed at Anfield, with the 27-year-old telling BT Sport of his efforts against the reigning Premier League champions: “We thought we deserved a point.
“They keep the ball so well but we deserved that. We needed to bounce back after Monday but showed we have character and a bit of spirit.
“I might be a hero in Liverpool now but in all seriousness we need as many points as we can and we need to keep moving up the table.”
Liverpool remain nine points clear of City heading into their home date with Brighton.
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Newcastle, who saw their recent revival brought to a halt when suffering a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Monday, are more concerned with events at the opposite end of the division.
Shelvey, though, sees plenty of cause for optimism, telling BBC Sport of their display against City: “We worked our socks off today, each one of us put in the 110%.
“When we had possession we did well and we defended for our lives today, you could see the defenders putting their bodies on the line.
“We do a lot of running during the week but on the pitch, the only time we have been defeated was when the other teams outworked us. This, of course, can’t happen and if we feel we can run more than the other team we’ll always have a chance in the game.”
Newcastle were good value for a point against City, with Pep Guardiola’s side short of their buccaneering best.
Shelvey ensured that the Magpies took something from the game, with the ball played into his path from a clever free-kick to send a swerving drive into the bottom corner.
“I saw they were sitting deep and I asked [Christian] Atsu to cut the ball back to me, it was always drifting away from the keeper,” Shelvey said of his strike.
“I know I can do that, I do it in training quite regularly but it is important to do it in a match and this secured us a point.”