Liverpool defender Andy Robertson rejected suggestions that throwing youngsters into the heat of a Carabao Cup final against a billion-pound Chelsea squad was a risk.
In truth manager Jurgen Klopp had little option after his list of injured players grew to 12 when Ryan Gravenberch was carried off on a stretcher after 30 minutes of the 1-0 extra-time win at Wembley.
He had been forced to select six youngsters on the bench – one of them, Trey Nyoni, is only 16 – with no sign of any of his absent senior stars being ready to return.
The 19-year-old Bobby Clark was the most experienced of them, making his ninth substitute appearance, James McConnell, also 19, came on for his seventh game while 18-year-old Jayden Danns, who only made his debut as an 89th-minute substitute against Luton on Wednesday, was centre-forward for the final 33 minutes.
When another academy graduate Jarell Quansah, who has been third-choice centre-back this season, came on in extra time Liverpool had five players – Harvey Elliott the other – aged 21 or under on the pitch.
But their youthful exuberance injected new life into a team which, after a draining fixture in midweek, looked out for the count and that allowed them to stay in the game until the 118th minute when Virgil van Dijk headed home the only goal.
“The academy has been put to use over the last two games, that’s for sure, but they did a tremendous job,” said Robertson after Liverpool extended their own record to 10 League Cup wins.
“We didn’t believe it was a risk. What else are we meant to do? That was our bench and the quality they have we can see at the training ground every day. We just wanted them to express themselves and that is what we tried to help them with.
“Credit to the academy coaches, how much hard work they have put in to produce these players, but also the experienced players and manager and coaches who have said ‘Go out and play with freedom on the biggest stage. Go and enjoy it and don’t come off with any regrets’ and I think they all did that.
“Bobby Clark, James, they were all different class but Bobby really took the game by the scruff of the neck. He showed composure as well. It’s incredible.
“It is about showing up on the biggest stage and they don’t get much bigger than that. Some of the lads have not even played a full game for the first team but they go on and play so well.”
Klopp has a good record of giving youth a chance but what is equally important as opportunity is attitude and Robertson believes the club have created the perfect environment for them to flourish.
“That comes from the coaches driving that into them and then when they come into the first team it is not allowing them to get too far ahead of themselves,” added the Scotland captain.
“I think the squad is really good at that but also the coaches, they don’t give them too much, too soon and I think that’s key to it.
“It also comes from their own mentality. They are all good kids who want to do well and when they have been given the opportunity you could see the excitement in them when they woke up they knew they were going to get a chance.
“That is all you can ask from young lads; they are going to make mistakes but it is up to us to help them and they were spot on.”
Rangers 1-4 Lyon: Lacazette and Fofana at the double as Clement's men outclassed
Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored twice as Lyon outclassed Rangers 4-1 in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday.
Former Arsenal striker Lacazette scored twice before the break after Tom Lawrence had earlier cancelled out Fofana's opener in Glasgow, with the latter also netting again in the second half.
Vaclav Cerny was punished for woefully blazing over the bar when Fofana bent home on the rebound from the hugely impressive Rayan Cherki's shot after 10 minutes.
Lawrence quickly prodded home the equaliser when Cyriel Dessers was denied, but an awful error from Connor Barron led to Fofana laying on a simple finish for Lacazette.
The Frenchman then made it 3-1 with a whipped 25-yard stunner before the break and Fofana poked home Cherki's low cross at the back post to add more gloss shortly after the restart.
Duje Caleta-Car saw a header thunder off the crossbar and Corentin Tolisso had a shot cleared off the line, while substitute Said Benrahma was also denied as Lyon pushed to really emphasise their dominance of proceedings.
Data Debrief: Lyon forwards tormentors in chief
Rangers, who won impressively at Malmo on MD1, just had no answer for the dynamism of a Lyon side who are now two from two and second in the table.
Lacazette was playing his 50th game in the Europa League and scored his 23rd and 24th goals in the competition. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Aritz Aduriz (26) have scored more since his first appearance in September 2012.
Cherki set up both of Fofana's goals in an excellent display and has six goal involvements in only five Europa League starts (three goals, three assists), while Fofana scored and assisted in the same game for the first time for Lyon.
Rangers have a night to forget and this represented only the first time in the Europa League/UEFA Cup they have conceded four goals at home, and only the third time overall.
City striker 'Bunny' Shaw targets more success with hopes of inspiring young girls in Jamaica
Despite achieving much of what she set out to already, Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw intends to keep pushing the barriers and she hopes to inspire others to chase their dreams.
Shaw, who has overcome her fair share of obstacles and tragedies to get to where she is at, has been a role model for young athletes in Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly aspiring women’s football players, as she continues to impress on the international stage and in the Women's Super League (WSL) since her move to City in 2021.
The 27-year-old ended last season as the WSL’s top scorer, assisting the Gareth Taylor-coached side to the runners-up position behind champions Chelsea, merely on goal difference.
Her performances throughout that campaign, which was cut short by a broken leg, also saw her cop the PFA Women's Players' Player of the year and the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year awards.
"When I look back at my childhood, I didn’t really have a lot of people I could look to, apart from Usain Bolt, of course. I didn’t have a lot of people who I could look to and say, ‘I want to be like that.’ One of the main reasons was that I wasn’t really allowed to play," Shaw said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“Now, looking at where the game is and where it is going, I think there is more room for that. For me, it’s just being alive and being in the moment. It’s staying true to who I am. Hopefully, by doing that each and every day, it works out in the end,” she added.
Black History Month in England, celebrated throughout the month of October, continues to shine a spotlight on athletes who have broken barriers to achieve success.
With her accolades and accomplishments speaking for themselves, Shaw is aiming to continue setting the standard for others to follow.
"I just try to be the best I can be and hope that by doing that, there are others looking on [who can] see that if I can do it, then it’s possible. Hopefully I can inspire a lot of the young girls back home in Jamaica that it is definitely possible,” the two-time Ballon d'Or award nominee shared.
"It’s been a long journey for me. I had to travel around the world to get here. Now I am here, I’m just embracing the moment and loving every part of it. The ups and downs are parts of life and that’s how you grow as a person. But I just try to be the best that I can and hopefully inspire more girls,” Shaw noted.
Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Veiga and Dewsbury-Hall off the mark in Conference League cracker
Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each scored their first Chelsea goals in a cracking 4-2 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Enzo Maresca decided to make wholesale changes in the Blues' opening match of the league phase of Europe's third-tier competition, but they were still a class above their Belgian opponents.
Full-back Veiga headed Chelsea into a 12th-minute lead after Mykhailo Mudryk stood up a brilliant cross from the right and Dewsbury-Hall fired into the side-netting when he ought to have scored soon after.
Despite their domination of the ball, it took the Blues until the 46th minute to double their lead when Pedro Neto took hold of Axel Disasi's long punt and fired into the roof of the goal.
Some slack Chelsea defending was punished when Tsuyoshi Watanabe headed in from the cross of Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues great Eidur.
Christopher Nkunku rifled home from just inside the area after Gent failed to clear their lines just after the hour and Dewsbury-Hall shot straight through the goalkeeper after Nkunku was tackled attempting to take a shot – with Omri Gandelman celebrating a late consolation for the visitors.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall stakes his Chelsea claim
This was a great chance for a few Chelsea players to stake their claim for more regular Premier League minutes and Dewsbury-Hall put in an industrious performance to do his chances no harm.
Signed from Leicester City in the last transfer window, the centre midfielder had four shots in total, three of which were in the box, and scored from his one big chance. He also had an impressive 91.2% pass accuracy.
Neto too had a very lively outing, creating five chances in total and finishing with a pass accuracy rate of 97%.
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