AcademyBridge-Wilkinson on Danns' scoring form, Chambers' senior debut and Sunderland clash

Ahead of Saturday’s home meeting with Sunderland, 17-year-old Danns has netted seven goals in competitive games in 2023-24.

Six of those have come for Bridge-Wilkinson’s U18s, including last time out in the league as Everton were beaten 2-1 in a dramatic mini-derby.

The young Reds are currently third in U18 Premier League North and next host Sunderland in a 1pm BST kick-off that you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO here.

Read on as Bridge-Wilkinson speaks to Liverpoolfc.com about the positive form of his side, the senior debut for Academy graduate Luke Chambers last month, and how recent signings Trey Nyoni and Amara Nallo are settling in.

On his assessment of the season so far…

It has been a pleasing start. I think performances have improved as the season has moved forward. As a team now I feel we are starting to get something together where we have a clear understanding of how we are playing, why we are doing what we are doing, and the lads are picking it up and it’s really coming on so it’s been a really pleasing start.

On Chambers making his senior debut as a substitute against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, having been at the Academy since the age of six…

It’s great for us and it’s great for Chambo as well. It’s also great for the U18s and the lads lower down the age groups as well to see one of our own getting a go. Granted it was only a substitute appearance but it was great to see him get an opportunity and we are hoping he will get some more minutes in the future maybe.

On Danns scoring in every game so far this season at U18 level…

Dannsy is certainly getting some goals at the minute, that’s for sure. We’ve got to keep working with him in terms of the positions he gets into and we’ve got to keep creating the chances for him to get into those positions as well, and then make sure he gets the chances that we know he can put away. It has been a good start to the season for him but still lots of potential that we can still keep working towards.

On the dramatic win over Everton in their last league outing…

I thought it was a deserved victory and obviously we left it really late getting the winner in stoppage time. But I thought the performance was probably the most pleasing one of the season so far. I thought we performed really well both with the ball and without the ball. I thought that everything we have been working towards was really evident in that performance, so I’m hopeful that we can continue with that level of performance and move forwards.

On how recent signings Nyoni and Nallo are settling in to Academy life…

They are both really good boys with really good attitudes. They obviously want to be professional footballers so they have come here with a real purpose as to why they are here. They have settled in with the other boys really well and fitted in well. They have settled in with the staff as well and been talking to all the staff, the whole Academy staff, brilliantly and they deserve a lot of credit for the way they have fitted in so well here. It’s been really pleasing to see them join us and then settle in so quickly.

On Nyoni netting a dramatic winner in the mini-derby…

He had a big smile on his face and he was buzzing! It was a nice moment for him and it was a lovely little finish. Obviously there was some great play leading up to it. Michael Laffey had just come on a bit before and was unfortunate not to score when he hit the post. It was a really pleasing moment for Trey and it was a really pleasing moment for the team because I thought we deserved to win that game.

On the fitness of goalkeeper Kornel Misciur, who had to leave the field against Everton following a late challenge on him, and a pleasing debut for his replacement Reece Trueman…

It was a heavy impact, heavy kick on Kornel’s lower part of his leg. It’s not anyway near as bad as it could have been, and we are really quite lucky it wasn’t too serious. Hopefully we can get him back out there with the group and training again shortly.

Reece did really well and we were really pleased with him. It’s not easy coming off the bench in a game like that, especially when you are a goalkeeper and there’s a big pause in the game like that, and he has to come on and deal with basically everything that was going on in the game. It was really pleasing that Reece got the level of performance that he showed and it was nice for him to get his chance and do well.

On the consistent displays of Ben Trueman as a No.6 so far this season…

Ben has been with us since a really young age and Reece is his brother. He is getting up to speed in terms of playing consistently and he has done really well for us so far this season. He continues to improve, which is great, so Ben is coming on and improving all the time. He still has a lot to do and we are working on his full potential because we know what he can do.

On Sunderland doing the double over the young Reds at U18 level last season…

They did well against us last season and we know they will be tough again. They will be well up for the challenge, they will be in your face and be hard to beat, so we know we are facing a tough challenge but we are looking forward to it as always and hopefully we can come out on top.

On being back on the main show pitch at the Academy on Saturday…

We haven’t played on it for a while so we can’t wait for Saturday. It’s always special to play on the main pitch at the front and we just want to continue our positive start of the season and keep improving.

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