SCOTT Parker is confident teenager Harvey Elliott will "be back stronger" after suffering an horrific injury last weekend.

Liverpool ace Elliott is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, after suffering a dislocated ankle following a challenge by Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk, which saw the Dutchman sent off.

Elliott underwent successful surgery this week and is now on the road to recovery.

Parker was the manager to give Elliott his Premier League debut, when he featured for Fulham in May 2019. In doing so, the talented midfielder became the youngest player in the league's history, aged 16 years and 30 days.

A move to Liverpool soon followed and after a fruitful loan spell at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship last season, Elliott began to establish himself in the heart of Jurgen Klopp's midfield, before Sunday's huge setback.

Discussing the 18-year-old, Parker told the Daily Echo: "I haven’t spoken to him. I’ve obviously seen the challenge and seen Harvey’s injury and it looked really, really bad.

"But I’ve also seen from a distance, someone come out in terms of how he’s approached it, very positive.

"And no doubt just from what I’m reading from afar and what I know of Harvey, he’ll be back stronger and better for it. He’s still young. So I wish him all the best really."

Asked if he agrees Elliott appears to have a mature head on young shoulders given how he has handled the injury this week, Parker added: "Yeah he does. He’s come across that way and that’s definitely the case.

"He was very young when I was with him, but still someone who was sensible, professional in his ways.

"So I can only see him having grown even more, being around the environment he’s in has probably only pushed him on tenfold from where I was with him.

"He was only a 15-year-old boy when I first saw him. So I suspect what I’m seeing there is the experiences he’s been around."