AcademyLiverpool U18s beaten 5-4 by Rangers in mid-season friendly

Jayden Danns’ penalty equalised for the young Reds in the first half at the Rangers Training Centre, but the hosts had stormed into a 5-1 lead by the break.

A much-improved second-half performance from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side featured a second goal from Danns along with strikes from Keyrol Figueroa and Cody Pennington.

Bridge-Wilkinson told Liverpoolfc.com: “It was quite a drastic first half. A lot of things didn’t really go for us, obviously, and we made some really obvious errors which culminated in them getting a couple of goals in front quite quickly.

“It was a really tough first half but then in the second half we were a lot, lot better. We scored three and perhaps could have scored more. We had some good chances but unfortunately couldn’t get the next goal.

“Quite a few boys who have not had many game minutes got involved today so that was nice to welcome them back from injury and back into the fold. So, it’s definitely served its purpose in that respect, it’s just a shame that we were so disappointing in the first half.

“The game was set up so that we could try to get up to speed as we play another game next Saturday. This was the first one after Christmas so we knew we’d be a bit rusty.”

Liverpool U18s return to competitive action on Saturday January 13 when they host Stoke City at the Academy in a league match you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO (11am GMT kick-off).