Carra: Follow our footsteps
Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool's upcoming crop of youngsters to 'push on' and attempt to emulate the achievements of Academy graduates such as himself and Steven Gerrard.
During his 15-year career at Anfield, the defender has watched a succession of prospects fail to make the grade - an outcome the 34-year-old wants the current batch to avoid.
"We believe we've got some good kids here but this is just the start for them," Carragher told the Liverpool Echo. "Now they need to push on and prove they can perform at that level on a regular basis.
"We want them to go on and have long careers here. We need some of them to be mainstays of the team for the next decade. If you look back over the years, a lot of youngsters have come through, played a few games and then disappeared.
"We need these youngsters to have careers here like Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and myself - players who came through under Steve Heighway.
"Sometimes people forget what a great job the likes of Heighway, Dave Shannon and Hugh McAuley did. A lot of players came through, not just fringe players but mainstays of the team.
"Hopefully now we'll see that happen again because I haven't got much time left in my playing career and Stevie is 32. We need it to happen and I know there's a lot of great work going on at the Academy as I'm there three or four times a week."
The youngsters were handed a second opportunity to impress by Brendan Rodgers during the Capital One Cup tie at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday, following the Europa League fixture with Young Boys a week earlier.
Despite having played in and won Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup finals, Carragher rated the performance at The Hawthorns as one of the finest he has been a part of.
The No.23 said: "I'm sure a lot of people looked at the team-sheet on Wednesday night and thought it was going to be a difficult night for us. But credit to the young players because they showed fantastic ability and character.
"They showed great courage to keep getting on the ball, even when we were 1-0 down away from home. They did the same in the Europa League game last week.
"Considering the circumstances with so many players missing, that win at West Brom was one of the best performances I've been involved in during all my years here.
"It was a fantastic night to be associated with the club and I was very proud to be involved in it. We had great support down there with our fans filling all of one end and they love to see good young players coming through."
Carragher was also keen to praise both the coaches at the Academy for producing the young players, and the manager for having the faith to hand them an opportunity.
"Coaches like Rodolfo Borrell, Steve Cooper and Mike Garrity deserve a lot of credit for the kids we've seen come through recently and they should be very proud of how they've conducted themselves with the first team," Carragher continued.
"You can have the best Academy in the world but the manager has to be brave enough to play them.
"Considering where we are in the league, a lot of managers would have played it safe with a more experienced team as going out of the League Cup at the first hurdle wouldn't have been great.
"But he was bold and it was the same with his substitutions - at 1-1 bringing on 16-year-old Jerome for his debut and 18-year-old Suso. A minute later Suso played a big part in setting up the winner.
"The manager has given everyone a belief. He's giving players a chance and as a youngster that's all you can ask for. They have to grasp it and so far they're doing that.
"The people who deserve the most credit are the young players themselves. They have to put the red shirt on and go out and perform. They did that brilliantly at West Brom and hopefully it's a sign of things to come."
The Reds veteran concluded with some words of wisdom for Jerome Sinclair, who became the youngest player in the club's history when he appeared as a substitute against West Brom.
He said: "It was a great achievement for Jerome and it's something he'll always remember. But he doesn't want to just be remembered for that. He wants to be remembered for being a very good Liverpool player and getting goals as a striker."