Sir Kenny Dalglish hails 'fantastic' Mo Salah and previews LFC Legends game

The Egyptian leapfrogged Robbie Fowler to take the accolade with the second finish of his brace in last weekend's 7-0 victory over Manchester United.

From one Reds icon to another, Dalglish hoped many more individual and collective achievements lie ahead for Salah to claim.  

Dalglish will return to the Anfield dugout on March 25 to manage Liverpool FC Legends for an encounter with their Celtic counterparts in the LFC Foundation charity match. 

Read on for the transcript of our chat with the Scot to preview that upcoming fixture...

• Watch Dalglish lead LFC Legends in their charity match against Celtic Legends at Anfield on Saturday March 25. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online here.

Kenny, you're going to be back in the Anfield dugout again for a great cause. How much are you looking forward to it?

I think the cause is the most important thing, isn't it? The players have set up Forever Reds and they want to look forward and try to help former players that have fallen on hard times. The boys have always been very gracious in giving up the time to be involved in the games, and they're also being a wee bit self-indulgent because everybody that comes along loves it. They all look forward to it and most of them have had the experience of some of the games in the past and it's been very well received by the people who come and watch at Anfield. It's a great day, it's great for all the lads to get back together again and reminisce about the same stories that they spoke about three or four games ago and will speak about again. It's camaraderie and when you have that, that's when you get successful teams – and that's what the boys had throughout their careers at Liverpool.

And it's even more special with it being two clubs really close to your heart…

I almost wouldn't have been anywhere if it hadn't been for Celtic taking me on board as a wee spotty 16-year-old boy. Everything that they did for myself and the family set us on our way. I couldn't have been luckier to play under the two most successful managers probably in their history. It's great for me, it's really sentimental for me. I know there's none of them that I played with that'll be in the team – well I hope there are a few! It's Celtic and what it stands for as a football club and playing against the other club that I played for, Liverpool, so it'll be fantastic for me, being a wee bit selfish. But I think it'll be great for everybody else.

I'll never forget the reception Liverpool players got when they went up to play after the Hillsborough disaster. The first game we played was at Celtic Park and there was a full house, red and white scarves, green and white scarves, standing shoulder to shoulder, singing You'll Never Walk Alone. We won the game 4-0, I think, but that was irrelevant. The welcoming that they gave everybody, all the players – that really helped the players to go on and play football, it helped the Hillsborough families. Since that day I think the relationship between both clubs has been fantastic – it's just an extension of that.

Obviously the last match at Anfield was the first team's 7-0 win over Manchester United. It's quite the act to follow...

I think the most important thing for the 7-0 is everybody's enjoyed it and had a few days to enjoy it. We've got to settle down and look forward to the other games, because they're equally as important as what the Manchester United game was. They're not going to judge us by how the first team did against Man United – we're going to disappoint somebody I think!

In that game Mohamed Salah obviously further cemented his status as a Liverpool legend, becoming the club's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer. What's your assessment of his achievement? 

Every achievement by any individual should never be undermined or overlooked. It's a fantastic achievement and he's done it in a short space of time, shorter than maybe Robbie did. The most important thing is the individual awards are brilliant but you can't beat the team awards. Within the success of the team, there's always individuals [who] make contributions. A goal at one end, it's equally as important that Alisson saves another one at the other end, or the defender kicks one off the line. So, everybody's got their part to play. Without everybody performing for the team, there's no way that you're going to be successful just by scoring goals. But you also have to be successful in not letting in goals. But it's fantastic for Mo, [he's] been a great servant to the club and long may it continue.

Safe to say he's a shoo-in for a future LFC Legends squad? But hopefully that's a fair few years off... 

I don't know if he'll get a game! We need to be thoughtful about that... by the way, there's a queue of them waiting to play. If he wants to play [on March 25] then no problem – we'll fit him in!

Finally, there's a few tickets left for this game. What's your message to those fans at a loss on a weekend when the men's first team aren't in action?

Well, I think if you're babysitting, it's an ideal opportunity to bring them to the game. You mentioned Celtic fans earlier, they've sold thousands of tickets and we've sold a few as well. So, there's plenty of time to pass from here until the 25th and I'm sure there will be a lot of tickets purchased. Also, the 7-0 victory against United won't do any harm with people buying the tickets either. So, come along and enjoy yourself, everything that you put in, everything that they collect, is going to very worthwhile causes. As well as Forever Reds, it also goes to the LFC Foundation and Celtic Foundation. I've been at a couple of Celtic Foundation [events] as well, and both clubs do a fantastic job for people who are not as fortunate as some others. So, come along and support it. You'll enjoy yourself and hopefully you'll see another Liverpool win.

• Tickets for the Legends match are priced at £27 for adults, £7 for juniors and £17 for over 65s. Purchase yours online here. Disabled supporters can visit the Accessibility Hub for full sale details.