Thursday 7 January 2016 08:37, UK
Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen has conceded he is playing for his long-term future at the club.
The 25-year-old has made just one Premier League start this season - the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at St James' Park on December 6 - and has featured predominately from the substitutes' bench.
Talks over a new contract, which began in March, have been put on hold and Allen knows he must up his game in order to earn an extension on his current deal at Anfield.
"That is something which has gone very quiet so I am not too sure really," he said of talks over his contract, which expires in 2017.
"I have made only one league start this season and I want to play more, I think that is obvious for any player in that situation.
"From my point of view it is about knuckling down, doing my job and giving my best, which I always do."
With the European Championship in France on the horizon, Wales' Allen needs more game time in order to press his international claims and his performance in the 1-0 Capital One Cup semi-final first leg win at Stoke was arguably one of his best.
However, with Liverpool's current injury crisis - 11 first-teamers are unavailable to manager Jurgen Klopp - there is a greater chance of him seeing more action.
Allen was not the only one to raise his game at the Britannia Stadium after some angry words from Klopp after Saturday's dismal 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
The midfielder admits it was the wake-up call everyone needed.
"It was some frank words. As a team we needed to hear them I guess but this squad has great personalities and great character, players who want to work hard, so there is no issue there," he added.
"We knew we needed to respond with a good performance first and foremost, a performance full of commitment and desire and we got that.
"There have been some disappointing results recently and the work is on now for us to get consistent and turn it around.
"Consistency is the key - you only have to look at a couple of great performances we've had this season and we are capable of that.
"You can't be brilliant every game, no team is, but we have to make sure we get it consistent and get those bad performances out of the way.
"If you look at our position in the table and the points we've picked up as a club it hurts us because we are better than that.
"We have the self-belief we can do much better and I think this performance shows that."
