'We showed plenty of personality and character to get over the line'
Liverpool U23s boss Barry Lewtas was delighted by the character his side showed to claim a 1-0 win over Everton in their opening game of the Premier League 2 season on Sunday.
A Jake Cain goal inside the opening 90 seconds of the encounter was ultimately enough to see the young Reds take the points at the Kirkby Academy.
Luis Longstaff had an effort harshly ruled out for offside, while goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher enjoyed an afternoon to remember with several important saves at the other end.
Post-match, Lewtas reflected on the mini-derby win, the performance of Kelleher, and his pride at seeing how his young team coped with the pressure…
On a great way to start the season…
It was a long 90 minutes! I thought we were brilliant in the first half. We played some really good football and I thought we controlled the game. We had chances and maybe should have scored more but it wasn’t to be and, in fairness, we knew they would be a threat and they had their chances as well. But in terms of the way we played I was really pleased. Second half, we knew it would be a bit different. They came at us a little bit more but I thought we managed the spells really well and obviously near the end, the last 10 minutes, I thought we showed plenty of personality and character to get over the line. When we had to tackle we tackled, when we had to make the big runs we did it and I thought everyone took responsibility. For such a young group of players I was really pleased with them.
On Cain’s quick-fire opening goal…
The idea is with second balls and balls around the box if Jake and Leighton [Clarkson] can get around there, especially central, we’ve got a good chance of scoring and Jake took it well. It was just a shame the other goal was disallowed. That didn’t mean game over but it kept them in the game.
Watch: LFC U23s 1-0 Everton - highlights
On the exceptional display of Kelleher…
He was fantastic. We’ve not played for a while so I’ve not seen him for a while but I just thought he was a presence in goal, the way he dealt with crosses and from corners he came and collected. He was excellent and made the big saves when it counted as well, so it was pleasing. But we’ve seen this for years that when boys move down to us from Melwood they come down and play for the Academy, which is great.
On how well his young team coped with Everton’s powerful forward line…
Josh Bowler was a real threat down the right side and we probably didn’t quite solve that problem. But you have to dig in. We were playing Everton and we weren’t going to have it our own way all the way through the game but those last 10 minutes we had to dig deep. We did better than just hang on in there and I thought we were better organised than that. But that was certainly the toughest part of the game, but we passed that test.
On the work ethic of No.9 Longstaff, who led the press from the front…
Luis was great for us. In fairness to him, during the pre-season Luis has played off the side and he’s made a great volume of runs and I think when he plays as a No.9 he actually gives us a different dimension. He can play and his efforts didn’t go unnoticed, he was excellent.
On Friday night’s trip to face Derby County in Premier League 2…
It’s just great to have the football back and a busy start to the new season. Everton was a tough game because of the rivalry but Derby will be no different. We will look forward to that, we’ll recover, prepare and we’ll go again.
Friday night’s Premier League 2 encounter with Derby County is a behind-closed-doors fixture at Loughborough University, with kick-off set for 7pm BST.
The game will be shown live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.