CAIN & CLARKSONJake: It was a massive night for the Academy. It showed the
world what this Academy is made of and the result didn’t
reflect the game. I thought Liverpool were dominant in the
game and the lads were unfortunate to be so far behind, but
they proved to the world that Under-23 level is a good level
and that the kids pushing to get into first-teams are actually
good players. Not as many come through nowadays, but it
proved that we’ve got kids who can play.
Leighton: It was the youngest-ever Liverpool team at the
time on that night, but a lot of the boys weren’t that nervous
because we’ve been playing with each other for quite a while.
A lot of us have known each other for years and we were the
underdogs. That can work in your favour, so we weren’t as
nervous as people might have thought and it seemed like that
on the pitch. It wasn’t a 5-0 game at all.
HAVING BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE CARABAO CUP AT
ASTON VILLA DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD MEAN FIRST-
TEAM OPPORTUNITIES WERE OVER FOR THIS SEASON?
Jake: There’s always a maybe with events and injuries the
first-team can have, especially with the amount of games they
have in a season and being involved in the Champions League.
So you always think maybe you’ll get a chance and maybe the
first-team manager might let some of the younger players play
because he trusts us. So I’d say there’s always a chance that
you could get in and around the first-team, but there’s never a
definite moment when you think you will get a chance.
Leighton: After the first-team drew 2-2 at Shrewsbury in
the FA Cup a bit of me thought we might get a chance in
the replay because of the winter-break, which we all knew
about. Then another part of me thought that after drawing
they needed to win the replay, so the manager might play a
similar team to put things right. I was thinking both things, to
be honest.
Jake: When we heard that the first-team were going on their