'Anfield clash is a Youth Cup carrot'
Neil Critchley has urged his U18 players to use the thought of playing at Anfield as an incentive for victory when they take on Reading in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night.
LFCTV GO will bring you the game exclusively live from the Madejski Stadium at 6.30pm GMT, with kick-off scheduled for 7pm, as the youngsters seek a semi-final meeting at the club's home ground.
Critchley's charges have yet to savour the Anfield experience during their run to the last eight and the U18s boss reports that his players are keen for the opportunity to test themselves in front of the Kop against either Fulham or Huddersfield Town in the last four.
"It's a massive incentive and hopefully we can grab that opportunity because the chance to play at Anfield doesn't happen too often," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"Hopefully it will happen in the future and we have to take that and hopefully get a two legged semi-final, because with one of the matches being at Anfield that is a massive carrot for all of the players.
"To go all the way to the final would mean a lot to everybody. There are a lot of people behind the scenes at the Academy, in terms of part-time coaches, recruitment and the medical department.
"They all play a part in the boys' development so it would be a special occasion for everybody. We are a bit away from that at the quarter-final stage at the moment but I think you would be lying if you hadn't thought about the final.
"But, as always, if we were to win the Youth Cup and none of our players played for the first team then I haven't done my job.
"If we get players through to the first team then I have done my job because there's been many a winning FA Youth Cup team where none of the players have played for the first team. The No.1 priority for any Academy is to bring players through to the first team - which is my target."
To date, Reading have seen off the challenge of Leeds United, Crewe Alexandra and Accrington Stanley to earn the right to host the Reds in a highly-anticipated encounter.
The Royals were runners-up in the national U18 final last season and Critchley acknowledged that Reading are not a team to be taken lightly.
He added: "Reading play similarly to the way their U21 side played when they won at Anfield and I was really impressed with them.
"A few of the players who played that night will be in their team so we know we will have to be at our best to get the victory.
"We have played against Blackpool, Aston Villa and Watford so far and they have all played different formations and provided different tests for us, and because there is more pressure on the result you find out more about the boys' mentality.
"We want that to continue because they are going to have to play in that type of environment if they are going to play in our first team, so we want to stay in the FA Youth Cup and go as far as possible."
The likes of 16-year-old Jordan Rossiter and 17-year-old Cameron Brannagan have already tasted life in the first-team squad, as Brendan Rodgers called them up to the substitutes' bench after Christmas.
According to Critchley, those call-ups, coupled with the senior boss' belief in providing young players with a chance, gives a major incentive to the starlets attempting to represent Liverpool in the future.
He added: "I was very fortunate at my old club that I had a special job. I was lucky with the history of players that we produced at Crewe and I wouldn't have left there if I didn't think it was for something special or something that was going to be worthwhile.
"That's why I made the step to come here because the players are going to get an opportunity. If you look across a lot of academies in this country, players getting an opportunity between the ages of 18 and 22 is very limited.
"We are fortunate that our manager is brave enough and willing enough to put the players in. It was only the other week that we had Jack Dunn, Brad Smith and Stephen Sama up at Melwood for two weeks' training and they dropped back down after that to train with us at the Academy.
"You could just see that their level had gone up. It was fantastic for them, and for us and for the other players it's infectious.
"When the lads see someone they have been training with last week or yesterday then get the opportunity to train at Melwood and be on the bench and actually come on, they say: 'That player was in the same team as us last week', so that serves as massive motivation for the players.
"It's also massive for the staff as well because it adds value to what you are doing and you know that the boys are going to get an opportunity if they are good enough."
Goals have been flying in at all angles at every level for the Reds this season; the first team are the country's leading marksmen, Alex Inglethorpe's U21s have fired more than 40 goals and Critchley's U18s have netted 62 goals from just 27 games.
The youngest group are unbeaten in their last four games and have suffered just one defeat from their last 10, with the form of Harry Wilson, Daniel Trickett-Smith and co exceptional in recent weeks.
While performances and player development, rather than results, are the main criteria for Critchley, the coach admits he has been pleased with the way things are going in Kirkby.
He said: "We've done well since Christmas and I think we've been doing very well for a while.
"We have picked up in terms of our performances, we've been harder to beat, we've conceded fewer goals and we've also kept our attacking threat as well, so we are getting the balance better than what we did in the first half of the season.
"It's exciting times from the first team down at the moment, right through to the Academy. The U21s have also scored a lot of goals and so have we.
"In terms of the style we want to play and the tactics we want to implement, the manager is big on attacking football and being positive in possession but also out of possession.
"We want to be the same and it does lead to us creating a lot of chances. The balance is not to be too open at the other end and recently we've got that balance right."