Virgil Van Dijk urged his young Liverpool teammates to ‘stick together’ and ‘be brave’ ahead of their FA Cup clash against Southampton on Wednesday.
Bobby Clark and James McConnell – both 19 years old – started in the 3-0 win at Anfield that earned the Reds a quarter-final tie against Manchester United along with 21-year-old Jarell Quansah and 18-year-old Lewis Koumas, who scored on his professional debut.
The quartet was joined in the starting XI by 20-year-old Conor Bradley, while 18-year-old Jayden Danns came off the bench to score twice.
And footage emerged on social media shows Van Dijk telling his younger teammates to seize their chance to impress by expressing themselves.
‘Help each other, push each other. Stick together no matter what happens boys,’ the Liverpool captain can be heard saying in the tunnel ahead of kick-off.
Virgil Van Dijk delivered an emotional speech to the Liverpool youngsters ahead of the game against Southampton on Wednesday night
The Reds skipper urged his younger teammates to be ‘enjoy’ the occasion and ‘be brave’
Van Djik delivered the message in the tunnel ahead of kick-off at Anfield
‘Go for it, enjoy it, be brave, full of confidence, everything we do.’
It has been a superb season for Liverpool’s youngsters, with several making their mark in Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Reds had eight academy graduates in the squad for their 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Bradley started at Wembley, while Danns, Quansah, Clark and McConnell all came off the bench.
Van Djik’s words on Wednesday echoed the message Klopp delivered in his press conference ahead of the game against Southampton, in which he took the pressure off his younger stars urging them to enjoy playing football.
‘First and foremost, they don’t have to show anything. I know what you mean. It’s easily misunderstood,’ he said.
‘The story of Sunday was one of the best football stories I ever heard of. It’s 100 per cent right.
‘Chelsea was younger than us, stuff like this. That’s a different project [but] it’s not about that [and] we don’t compare it.
Lewis Koumas scored the opener on his professional debut as the Reds won 3-0
Fellow 18-year-old Jayden Danns came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool reached the FA Cup quarter-finals where they will face Manchester United
The public might do that, we don’t do that. But our boys played in youth teams [and] U21s, stuff like this, and only came up recently and not trained with us for a long time.
‘That is the absolutely nil experience, but a lot of talent and they just showed that. That’s the situation we have to create for the boys.
‘If we play more of them now tomorrow from the start or whatever and we have a look [and say], “Well, you’re not as good as I thought after Sunday,” that would be horrendous.
‘There’s absolutely no pressure. All that these boys have to do is to really enjoy what they’re doing.’
