Joyce on YC tie

Speaking to the media ahead of the crucial youth cup tie against the Scousers a week today, Newcastle Academy boss Joe Joyce remains positive about the result and hopes that we can hit the home side early on:

'At Anfield, the first goal on the night is going to be crucial. If we get that first goal then anything can happen - but Liverpool are certainly favourites now. In the first half, especially the first half-hour, we didn't get close to them. Perhaps we showed them too much respect. When we did get the ball, we gave it away too easily.

But certain individuals did very well for us overall, and Andy Carroll was the most effective player on the field. We needed to press Liverpool more and get the ball into the final third, and we did that in the second half relatively successfully. Now, as a team, we've got to look positively at the way we finished the game - but we need to iron out the defensive errors. It would have been easy for the lads to collapse after the third Liverpool goal, but we were on the front foot at that time and we kept going forward.'

Meanwhile Kenny Wharton has also had his tuppence worth:

'We were shell-shocked after the first half. Liverpool looked as though they were going to score every time they went forward, and that's more or less what they did. They were helped by us, though. We played poorly from a defensive point of view without a doubt. In the first half we didn't defend well and let them in for their goals and missed chances ourselves.

In the second half we went out and played a bit more direct. That helped us, but football-wise Liverpool played better and gave us a bit of a lesson for the first 20 minutes. In the second half we were more direct and Andy Carroll and Kazenga LuaLua worked well together.'

Good luck to the bairns ahead of that one a week today.

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