'Punished myself': Ekitike explains how he felt watching Liverpool lose against Crystal Palace while suspended

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Liverpool dearly missed Hugo Ekitike during their disappointing defeat against Crystal Palace on Saturday.The Reds paid for a lacklustre beginning to the game, and were hit with a late sucker punch as Eddie Nketiah handed them their first loss of the campaign.While everyone connected to Liverpool would have been furious with the slightly surprising defeat, Ekitike in particular must have been feeling doubly bad.The Frenchman had rendered himself unavailable for the match having picked up two silly yellow cards and a subsequent suspension the previous midweek against Southampton.Ekitike was roundly criticised for his actions, and it was clear right from the get-go that his absence was going to make a difference against Palace.Now back in the squad ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Galatasaray, Ekitike has lifted the lid on how he felt seeing his teammates lose late on at Selhurst Park.Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty ImagesHugo Ekitike ‘punished himself’ following red cardThere has been a huge amount of discourse about Ekitike ever since he removed his shirt and took a second yellow card against Southampton last week.The 23-year-old was finally afforded the chance to answer back on Tuesday as he faced the press ahead of Tuesday’s match.READ MORE: Liverpool predicted XI vs Galatasaray as Hugo Ekitike decision made while ‘really poor’ star loses his placeAsked to give his thoughts on the red card, Ekitike did afford himself a wry smile before answering maturely.“I think that wasn’t smart,” the France international admitted. “I punished myself alone I would say.“I felt a bit disappointed to watch the boys from home last Saturday but as I said I apologised to everybody already, to my teammates, that kind of thing won’t happen again.

“I just move on now and I’m looking forward to playing, just focusing on football.”Ekitike looking forward to Alexander Isak link upAs well as being asked about his thoughts on a moment which can now hopefully be forgotten, Ekitike was asked once again about Alexander Isak.Isak and Ekitike were seen laughing together during training earlier on Monday, and the No. 22 has again reiterated that he can’t wait to play with the Swede.“At such a big club, I can’t see any big clubs who have just one striker,” said Ekitike.“It is good for me that he is here, I have a lot of things to learn, so it is good that he is here.

I can do a lot of things, if we have to play together I can do that.”With both players available once again, there is a chance to see them dovetailing together in Istanbul on Tuesday evening.