'Basel scalp can help us in Youth Cup'
Neil Critchley believes his Academy youngsters can take inspiration from their march to the last 16 of the UEFA Youth League when they host Bradford City in the FA Youth Cup third round on Monday night.
A 3-0 victory over Swiss outfit FC Basel secured qualification to the knockout stages of the European competition last week, and the coach is targeting another good display from his talented side against the Bantems.
Kick-off at Langtree Park in St Helens is at 7pm GMT and supporters can watch the game exclusively live on LFCTV HD, with coverage starting at 6.30pm. Click here for further details.
The winners of the tie, which has to be decided on the night, will face a fourth round encounter at home against either Brighton & Hove Albion or Derby County, who also play tonight.
"Any game like we've experienced recently in the UEFA Youth League is good experience for a knockout competition," Critchley explained to Liverpoolfc.com.
"The game against Basel was like a cup tie because it was do-or-die and we had to win, so that will stand the players in good stead for Monday night.
"The players know it's a prestigious tournament and we can draw on the experiences of last season, and on Monday we will be ready for this game.
"Bradford are doing very well in their league. They are in the top two, haven't conceded many goals, they are well organised and very hard to beat - so we are expecting a very tough game.
"Their motivation will be through the roof. They are playing against Liverpool and they will see it as a chance to prove themselves.
"They would see it as a big upset if they were to beat us, so we have to guard against that and be ready for that. We have to make sure our approach is right and then concentrate on how we are going to play."
Last season at the third round stage, Critchley's charges edged out Blackpool in a thrilling game in gale force conditions on the seaside, via a dramatic penalty shootout victory.
The coach admits his side weren't at their best on the night but insists a valuable lesson has been learned.
He added: "On a Youth Cup night like we experienced last year, you never know what you are going to get, so we should be more than ready for the game on Monday night.
"We learned plenty of lessons. You can only control what you can control and you can't control the conditions. It was horrendous weather that night and lots of the players had a real off night.
"When you are dealing with young players you can get that, as the occasion does get to them. What we did show that night was a real resilience and real character.
"It is a knockout game and even if you don't play well you have to find a way to win, which we did, and if that's the case on Monday night then we can draw on that experience from last year."
Critchley considers participation in tournaments such as these to provide the necessary grounding for his young players, who share the same ambition of one day playing at Anfield.
He said: "The character and psychological side of the game is massive. If the players are going to succeed at this football club and play in the Premier League then they have to get used to playing under pressure, where results matter, and we want to stay in this competition for as long as we can.
"We've been progressing nicely over the last few weeks. We've had a consistent team out, which has showed in the performances and defensively we've been much more solid.
"We will always create chances and score goals and we've taken confidence from the performances. We want to win the competition but if we won the Youth Cup and no players progressed to the first team then we haven't done our job properly.
"Jordan Rossiter and Jordan Williams made their debut this season. Sheyi Ojo has been training with the first team recently and he was on the bench at Blackpool last season, so you can never lose sight of the priority - which is to produce players for the first team."