Academy'We want to win every game we play, that's our only focus'
Barry Lewtas has highlighted the qualities of his U19s players with his Liverpool squad the only team to win every group game in the UEFA Youth League this season.
With four consecutive victories, the young Reds are guaranteed at least a play-off spot in Europe as they look to reach the last 16 of this year's competition.
Lewtas' side head to Amsterdam with AFC Ajax next up at the Sportpark de Toekomst arena on Wednesday afternoon – a match that will be shown live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO, with kick-off set for 3pm BST.
A point for Liverpool would be enough to secure top spot in Group A, having already beaten Rangers twice alongside victories over Napoli and their Dutch counterparts.
The vast majority of the squad were in action for the U21s at the weekend, as the Reds came back from a goal down to take the Merseyside derby spoils thanks to a 2-1 win over Everton in Kirkby.
Read on as Lewtas reflects on the victory and looks ahead to the trip to face Ajax with Liverpoolfc.com...
On the derby win over Everton…
The lads showed brilliant character and we showed plenty of quality in terms of how we played. We knew we were up against a good team, and we wanted to impose our style. The lads kind of implemented some of the stuff we wanted really well and in the end I was really pleased.
On Ben Doak netting the winner against Everton – his first goal in Premier League 2…
It was a deserved goal as well. Ben did everything but score at one point, one was blocked off the line from him by us. I thought our positioning was really good, we managed to overload the sides and that really helped Ben get one-v-one with the full-back – he was really exciting.
On Jake Cain's overall derby display…
I was really pleased for Jake. His energy set the tone for us in the middle and his goal came from a really good press. Jake was our oldest player out there and what comes with that is responsibility. He has led the group really well as the captain and he led by example against Everton. It was a really good game for him.
On Calvin Ramsay getting a planned 45 minutes…
Calvin was excellent. He scored for us last week against Accrington Stanley and we gave him 45 minutes against Everton. He was full of enthusiasm, he defended well and built the attack down the right, supporting Ben Doak well and they were a handful. It was more minutes in the tank and that's what's important for him.
On a terrific campaign in the UEFA Youth League so far…
We are the only team who has won every game so far, so to do that at this level, in what is a tough group, is very pleasing. We played away on an artificial surface in Napoli, we played Ajax and Rangers, and for us to get the win the way we did against them with 10 men was excellent. I think overall it has been so far, so good.
On wanting to finish top of the group and qualify for the last 16 automatically…
We want to finish top of the group. We are playing so many games at the moment, but our focus remains the same and that is to try to win every game we play. There's nothing simpler to it than that. We want to go to Amsterdam, perform and try to win the game.
On the display from his side against Ajax in the reverse at Kirkby…
We were excellent, but Ajax showed enough from a spell they had in the first half that we know what we are coming up against. The scoreline was extremely convincing but there was a time in that first half when we had to defend well, they pinned us back, showed some really good technique and lovely movements.
That has given us a scare to know that we will be in a game on Wednesday. No two games are the same anyway, so we know we are going to have to be good if we are to go over there and get the win.