Marcus Braddock looks ahead to this evenings Emirates FA Cup replay at Anfield
Tonight, we head to Merseyside for our Emirates FA Cup fourth round replay to face a team of youth players with Liverpool's first team currently on holiday. Jurgen Klopp won't be there either, he also needs a break from all that pointing and shouting. For many, this could prove to be in our best interests because it gives us a realistic chance to win this game although my feeling is that we can never afford to think we've won before the actual game. That sort of complacency can bring you obvious problems and criticisms. The Liverpool Under 23 team generally play in the Premier League 2 and have been used in the Checkatrade Trophy, but youth manager Neil Critchley says that the team tonight is likely to be teenagers and under 20 players.
Referee
Andrew Madley from West Yorkshire. Mr Madley has been in charge of 17 games, mainly in the top two divisions and has shown six red cards and 59 yellow. This is the first time he will have been in charge of either team this season.
Squad News
As far as I'm aware, we have no new injury problems for Town, Ollie Norburn is a doubt having not played for us since the original tie against Liverpool.
Summary
Sam Ricketts has already spoken to the media about the disappointment with the way Liverpool have behaved, and I have to agree. We know we're a fly compared to the juggernaut that is Liverpool, but it feels like they've acted as if we weren't even there. I doubt they meant to do so and to be honest, we need to put this to bed and concentrate on ourselves. It's sad to see that Ollie Norburn isn't likely to play. To me, we look a more cohesive unit, but we did manage to earn this replay in his absence, so hopefully, we'll cope without him. A win at Anfield would be lovely, but I can also see benefits from not progressing, so this is one to enjoy and see what happens. Whatever the result, I think we've earned more than a little respect from this cup campaign, and I'll be coming home proud tonight.
COYB!!!