Morgan insists it 'wasn't hit and hope'
Academy striker Adam Morgan insists his sensational strike for Liverpool's U21s against Manchester City last month was the product of a skill he has been honing regularly throughout his career.
The 19-year-old opened the scoring in the Barclays U21 Premier League fixture with an outrageous, long-range effort - preceded by a clever spin into space before a pinpoint wallop into the top corner.
While keen to stress that the finish was by no means a fluke, Morgan also reflected that a goal from far closer to the net would be equally as important as his memorable conversion past City.
Asked if his strike was a lucky hit, he told Liverpoolfc.com: "No, of course not! People have asked whether it was hit and hope, and will I try it again?
"It wasn't a case of that really; I saw the goalie, I'm always looking if the goalie is off his line. I believed that I could do it and executed it well.
"You've always got to know where the goalkeeper is. I always like to have a look and at that time, I thought it was on. I try it the odd time in training - I've scored a couple of goals like that. So it wasn't a surprise to me that it went in, it was a really nice goal, to be fair.
"If I had have scored a tap-in against Manchester City and we had won, I would have been happy. If I score a tap-in against Tottenham, that's just as important as the Manchester City goal. That goal was nice but I move onto the next one now."
Having opened their 2013-14 campaign with a defeat by Southampton, Alex Inglethorpe's side have bounced back with a four-match unbeaten streak - including away victories over both Manchester clubs.
Their next challenge looms on Monday, when Tottenham travel to Langtree Park in St Helens - a match which will be broadcast live on the club's official television channel and online for LFCTV Online subscribers.
"I think we can achieve things and we've got high expectations throughout the squad," the No.50 added. "We're a confident bunch of lads and even though we're a young team, we don't fear anyone.
"We get excited for games rather than fear people. Again on Monday, we're looking forward to the Tottenham game.
"I've been happy with how I've played when I've been given the opportunity to play. It has been a little bit of a stop-start season but I've scored goals when I've been given the opportunity - long may that continue.
"I am really confident. I believe in our team and we believe in ourselves against anyone. We're not fearing Tottenham, even though they did beat us twice last year, we're just looking forward to the occasion.
"It's nice at Langtree Park, it will be good under the lights. We believe we can beat them. They will be thinking the same, so hopefully we can come out on top.
"We know what we're up against; we know the quality of the opposition and the quality they can bring to the game. We're going to have to match that if we want any chance of winning.
"But we're really confident we can get something out of the game and hopefully get a couple of goals for myself.
"Come down and you'll see a good game. I'm going to have a word with the defenders not to concede this week, then hopefully I can score a few goals and we might win! It will be good."
Several first-team squad members have featured for the U21s already this season - Luis Alberto notably notched a hat-trick against Sunderland - and Morgan welcomed their involvement.
He added: "It is a thing that has always been around the Academy and always will be. It is part and parcel of the game; people take seniority because they need the minutes, which is perfectly understandable.
"We like it when the first-team players come down because we learn a lot from them. They are based full-time at Melwood so they bring something different here and we like to learn from them.
"It's so hard to stay up there; we've got so many great players up there. But hopefully I can keep working hard and I believe in my ability, so hopefully I'll be able to get up there sometime soon."