Rickie Lambert has decided to tackle his form issues at Liverpool head-on.
The Daily Mail says Lambert has asked Liverpool's conditioning team to intensify his training regime in attempt to get his Anfield career moving forward.
The England international made his first start since his shock £4million move from Southampton in Tuesday's Capital One Cup win over Middlesbrough and was handed the captaincy but he was substituted in the second half, long before the extraordinary penalty shootout started.
He has already shown his willingness for hard work on Merseyside - Lambert cut short his holiday to return to pre-season training early - but the 32-year-old had admitted he needs to do more if he is going to fully adjust to the fluent style of play Brendan Rodgers advocates.
"It was a nice surprise to get the captaincy and as I wasn't expecting it," said Lambert. "The manager pulled me in before the game and said "you're going to be skipper" so it was a great honour to lead the team. But forgetting about that, it was a strange game.
"I wasn't happy with my own performance, so that overshadowed the honour of being captain a little bit. I didn't feel as sharp as I want to feel. That's the main thing I want to look at going back into training.
"I want to get my match fitness up because obviously everyone knows I'm not playing every game so I have to adapt myself now. I think I'm going to have to do more so my fitness is up to the same level as everybody else.
"It's my sharpness and my fitness which I need to get on the training pitch and start improving it. I do work, push myself to the limit, but maybe I am going to have to go to the fitness coach (Ryland Morgans) and see if I can do more."
