How Joe Allen achieved a trio of aims in Stoke win

Collectively, the Reds were aiming to put Saturday’s disappointment at West Ham United behind them and attempt to take a significant step towards the Wembley final by achieving a positive outcome at the Britannia Stadium.

On a personal note, Allen was handed his seventh start of Jürgen Klopp’s tenure and was eager to turn in a display worthy of staking a claim for further action during the remainder of a month that could yet still feature a further six matches.

That trio of aims were achieved with aplomb as, not only did Liverpool record a well-earned but hard-fought 1-0 victory over the Potters, but Allen also produced a performance that placed him firmly alongside the game’s man-of-the-match contenders.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: “I was happy with my performance. There haven’t been too many opportunities for me, so I did worry whether that would affect me starting a game. Thankfully I felt good, my fitness was fine and it’s always great to be a part of a team victory.

“Any chance you get, especially when you’re not in the main starting 11 if you like, is your opportunity to try and do that.

“My focus has always been on trying not to put too much pressure on myself, going out there and giving my best, and hoping that’ll be enough. I think it went well and we’ll have to see what comes of it.”

The contest came on the back of a highly frustrating afternoon at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, where Liverpool went down to a 2-0 defeat to West Ham.

Klopp admitted in the aftermath of that loss that his team were ‘angry with ourselves’, but the Reds brushed aside that discontent by conjuring up a dynamic display against Stoke.

“To go away from home in the first leg of a semi-final and come away with a lead was just what we were after,” said Allen.  “We had to work very hard to get it, but we can be happy with our night’s work.

“Any loss, it hurts you as a professional and we wanted to make sure we responded well to that disappointment. Early on in the game, that’s exactly what we needed to do – and exactly what we went out there and did.

“We put Stoke under pressure and everybody put 100 per cent effort into the game. Thankfully we got the goal and now the onus is on them to come to Anfield and try and turn things around.”

Liverpool’s job on the night was made all the more difficult by the fact three members of the starting XI sustained injury.

Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren were both forced out of the action inside the opening 35 minutes, while Kolo Toure saw out the final moments in discomfort due to cramp.

Nevertheless, a resolute and determined performance ensured the Reds picked up a crucial first-leg advantage.

“Having started so well, to lose Phil you did wonder if it’d affect us,” Allen reflected. “It’s always disappointing to lose a key player like that and he was having a big influence early on in the game.

“But credit to Jordon Ibe – that’s the beauty of this squad, we’ve got players who can step in and slip straight into the role, and Jordon did that. Then Dejan went down, but again, James Milner back from injury came straight in.

“Lucas deserves a lot of credit for slotting in at centre-half again and doing such a great job. It was disappointing to lose the lads, but we came through it well in terms of the performance.”

Allen concluded: “From my point of view, I really enjoy the challenge you have in games like that – where it is tight and you have to have full focus at all times.

“A team like Stoke, you know the quality they’ve got going forward and they can hurt you at any moment.

“Maybe we could have been a little bit more clinical and got another goal – I think that would have heaped the pressure on them going into the second leg of the tie – but I don’t think there are too many complaints with the way it panned out.”