AcademyU21s update: Premier League 2 play-off hopes, Brighton trip and Kieran Morrison form
Barry Lewtas has backed his Liverpool U21s side to give it everything they have got in the attempt to qualify for the end-of-season Premier League 2 play-offs.
The Reds are currently 15th in the 26-team division and require a finish in the top 16 to advance to the concluding phase.
With three games to play in the regular campaign, Lewtas knows his players have to start consistently taking the chances their play has merited if they are to extend the term.
The U21s got back to winning ways last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in a friendly.
James Balagizi made a scoring return from injury after Ranel Young notched the opening goal.
Next up on Sunday, Lewtas’ charges make the long journey to face Brighton & Hove Albion at their Amex Elite Performance Centre in Premier League 2 (4pm BST kick-off).
Lewtas spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about the trip to the south coast and the Reds’ play-off hopes – read on for the interview…
On the friendly win over Blackburn…
Obviously we’ve just had the international break and our last game scheduled against Aston Villa was called off. So for us it was important to get us a real competitive game, and it was exactly that against Blackburn. It was great to get back playing.
On the return of Balagizi after a spell on the sidelines…
He has had a tough time with the injuries but he has trained really well recently and we’ve just been trying to get him back fit as well. I thought he contributed well with his goal and he also did a lot more for our performance as well.
On handing Kieran Morrison the captain’s armband against Blackburn and his progress so far…
Amara Nallo is our captain but Kieran has really taken on a lot of responsibility over the last few weeks with his performances. I think we’ve got to have more leaders in the group and that’s not always just the person that carries the armband. With this being a friendly, I think it was really good for Kieran and I think he took on that responsibility. His pressing was brilliant, his all-round play was really good and we are trying to develop him in a lot of different ways, like we are with all the boys.
We forget sometimes that Kieran is a youth-team player – he only turned 18 in November. I think the maturity in his performances over the last number of games has been at a really good level, so this was a little bit of a reward for him. He has been working ever so hard and there is a lot more to come from him. We have had at times six youth-team players in our team this season and that’s the reality in terms of these young boys have stepped up and done really well. They are improving and some of the games have thrown different challenges their way but it has been good to see where they are at this point.
On Sunday’s trip to Brighton…
It is always a tough challenge when you go to Brighton. It’s a tough place to go and play because they are a good team. We’ve always had good games down there and found it a real challenge. But it’s one we are looking forward to and really excited by.
On the incentive to make the play-offs…
It’s a big chance because we are in control of that. We know we have left a number of points behind us due to missed opportunities and chances, and the last two goals we’ve conceded in Premier League 2 have been own goals. We’ve improved a lot defensively and we continue to make lots of chances. We know that the small margins have really hurt us but we need to make sure we get some games over the line.