Striker Origi believes hard work now paying off at Liverpool

Liverpool striker Divock Origi believes his persistence and hard work is starting to pay off after finally getting off the mark for the club.

The 20-year-old scored the Reds’ first hat-trick since Luis Suarez in March 2014 as Southampton were swept aside 6-1 on their way to setting up a Capital One Cup semi-final encounter against Stoke.

With the return to fitness of Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge, Origi has fallen further down the pecking order — at one point he was the team’s only fit striker — and prior to Wednesday night had played just four minutes in the last month.