Leicester City midfielder Jay Spearing remains hopeful his future is with parent club Liverpool.

Although he's enjoying his time at Leicester, his ultimate goal is to return to Melwood this summer and fight for a first team place.

"It's a good standard in the Championship where I've been playing against players with a lot of experience," Spearing told liverpoolfc.tv. "We've had a tough run of games since I've been here against the likes of Reading, Cardiff, Middlesbrough, West Brom and Preston.

"I've definitely benefited from it, playing week in, week out in competitive games.

"Obviously, it's a disappointment when you're not playing all the time at your club. But if you look at the players in front of me at Liverpool, the likes of Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano, I can't really complain can I.

"This was a time in my career that I needed to go out and get some first team experience and play games. I'm hoping it stands me in good stead for when I get back to Liverpool, hopefully with a Championship play-off winners medal. Then I can start fighting for a place in Liverpool's first team squad again

"The boss (Rafa Benitez) told me I was going out to get experience but he wanted me back straight away.

"He told me he's not shutting the door. I was very pleased to hear that and it's given me a lot of confidence to come here and prove that I can play at this level. It's all about experience to take back to Liverpool."