'Ruthless Mo deserves PFA award - he is a joy to watch'
Chris Shaw
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Mohamed Salah's attitude and application earned him the PFA Players' Player of the Year award from his peers, according to Danny Ings.
The Liverpool forward collected the annual accolade at a special ceremony in London on Sunday evening, having won a vote of PFA members from the 92 Premier League and Football League teams.
The presentation came just a day after the Egypt international scored the 41st goal of his sensational debut season with the Reds and moved closer to the club record of 47, set by Ian Rush in 1983-84.
Liverpool teammate Ings sees acknowledgement from his fellow professionals as just reward for the way Salah has dealt with the demands and expectations on his return to the Premier League.
“He thoroughly deserves it,” Ings told Liverpoolfc.com.
“Credit to him, because he came to Chelsea and had a difficult time there, then went away, worked hard and came back – and this is the reward.
“It’s all the stuff in the background he has done. I’m sure mentally it would have been very hard for him to come back and give it another shot. The way that he has come in and been so ruthless, for us as a team he is great to have. And for the Premier League, he is a joy to watch.
“It’s evident that he has really worked his socks off to get into the position he is in now. It doesn’t just happen – it’s down to hard work and graft.
“I take my hat off to him and I’m sure everybody else in the Premier League does too.”
Salah's 2017-18 Premier League stats
Salah netted Liverpool’s second goal in a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday by moving onto a reverse pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and lofting a cool finish over Ben Foster.
In scoring at The Hawthorns, the No.11 equalled the Premier League best of 31 goals by a single player in a 38-game campaign – previously achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Shearer and Luis Suarez.
The 25-year-old is only the third man in Reds history to hit 40 goals in a season and, with at least five fixtures remaining, may surpass Rush’s huge haul before the end of the term.
Asked if the sense of history being made feels tangible, Ings said: “It really does.
“I’ve said before, he is the most ruthless player I’ve played with in front of goal. The amount of chances he creates for himself, when he’s in tight situations and he’ll muscle his way through players, people underestimate how strong he is. He has got a low centre of gravity and the way he jinks in and out of players is just unbelievable.
“I really hope he breaks every record that’s put in front of him, because he is a very humble guy, he takes it in his stride and I think he deserves it.
The next on the target is Balon D'Or