Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke to use 'very unlucky' disallowed goal as motivation tool

The young striker thought he had scored his first goal for the club on Wednesday but the strike was ruled out for handball

Dominic Solanke's late goal was ruled out after the ball struck his left hand (Getty)

Dominic Solanke is hoping the disappointment of seeing a late goal ruled out for handball against West Bromwich Albion will spur him on to finally score his first for Liverpool.

The young striker is yet to find the net for his new club since arriving on Merseyside from Chelsea during the summer, though he thought he had opened his account with a winner in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 0-0 draw at Anfield.

Solanke bundled Joe Gomez’s cross over the line in the 82nd minute and wheeled away in celebration, only for referee Paul Tierney to disallow the goal for handball after consultation with one of his assistants.

After the final whistle, Solanke admitted that the ball had rolled up off his chest and onto his arm before making its way past goalkeeper Ben Foster, though felt he was “unlucky” to have seen the strike chalked off.

“It went onto my chest, I tried to chest it in and it has clipped my arm,” he said. “The referee disallowed it but it’s very unlucky. I thought he had given it as well. I was celebrating. I don’t know what changed his mind, but he changed his mind.

“I thought I’d won it. It’s not nice when you are celebrating and it gets disallowed,” Solanke added. “It was annoying tonight but hopefully I will get a goal soon and carry on from there.

Solanke may not have long to wait for another chance to finally score his first Liverpool goal, however, with manager Jürgen Klopp set to continue his policy of heavy rotation.

The 20-year-old dropped to bench against West Bromwich as Klopp made six changes to the side that started in Sunday’s Merseyside derby draw with Everton, with Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah all starting.

With a busy Christmas period to come though, Solanke can expect to add to his total of two Premier League starts for the club.

“Being at a big club like Liverpool you’re always going to have great players, he said when asked about the ‘Fab Four’ ahead of him in the pecking order at Anfield. “But when you are young you can learn from them so it’s not a bad thing.”

“I think it has been a busy season with all the competitions we are in. December is probably the busiest time, there are a lot of games, games every two or three games. We know we have a good enough squad to rotate so we have to just all play a part.”