AcademyPremier League 2 preview: Barry Lewtas on Stoke test, Koumas loan and more

Results so far in 2025 have been mixed for the Reds' development squad, with last weekend's 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea following a 1-1 draw away at Southampton, when the hosts claimed a 96th-minute equaliser.

Tonight, Lewtas' charges head to Stoke City in Premier League 2 in a 7pm GMT kick-off, with the fixture taking place at Bet365 Stadium.

In the Potters' senior ranks is Liverpool loanee Lewis Koumas, who has made a big impression by scoring goals and assisting in the Championship this term.

Ahead of the trip to Stoke, Lewtas spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about recent games, the loan impact of Koumas and senior debuts for Academy players…

On missing chances and conceding goals in recent weeks…

It isn't always the best recipe! But mixed in there we see light at the end of the tunnel, there's no question of that as both a group of staff and players. There's no complaining internally and no blaming of each other. For us, we were more than playing our part in a cracking game against Chelsea, similar to the game against Tottenham when we conceded right at the end. We conceded in the 96th minute at Southampton, too, so we know what we are doing right but we know more importantly as well the areas we need to get better in, and we are working unbelievably hard to fix that. For us internally, we know what we are trying to do and where we are trying to improve and we are pretty confident that will change pretty soon.

The beauty for us is we know we are not a million miles off where we want to be, so we are not coming in every day and ripping up the playbook. The reality for us is there are certain things we need to get better at and we are working really hard to do that. The players are working really hard and the effort and the commitment is really good. It has not gone our way in certain games and we own that and we take full responsibility for that, but we are really confident we are close to getting it right.

On the U19s group's recent loss to VfB Stuttgart on penalties in the UEFA Youth League…

Early on in the game we went 2-0 down, which certainly in any game is really difficult to come back from, but on that particular occasion I thought we were able to get control of the game again. We knew which part of the pitch we felt we could cause the most problems in. We did ever so well to get it back to 2-2 because it's always difficult away from home in the European games. I really felt near the end we were pushing and we tried to get the winning goal, but then as we know with penalties it can go either way. We were one spot-kick away really and only missed one penalty, but that's how it can go sometimes.

Looking back, we didn't think we started the game particularly well and I would have to say Stuttgart started it really well. We just gave ourselves a little too much to do against a team that finished higher in the group than us. But it was probably our start to the game, not the penalties, that lost us the game.

On Trent Kone-Doherty looking sharper after a return from injury and making his senior debut at Plymouth Argyle…

Trent is in a good place, creating big chances and scoring goals himself, like we saw in Stuttgart. He is a real handful. Against Southampton he started the game really well but could only play 45 minutes because he was in the first-team squad for Plymouth, which was only two days later. That kind of shows the progress Trent has made. So for him, he is in a really good place at the moment, which is good to see.

On Isaac Mabaya also making his bow at Plymouth after a previous 18-month spell out with a hamstring problem…

Isaac has been through a lot and has had the misfortune of being injured. He has done well to get back and what an opportunity it was for him to represent Liverpool. When these kids join our Academy, and in Isaac's case pre-Academy aged six, he has made his debut for Liverpool Football Club, which is amazing. Some of these boys in our squad have had a taste. So now for Isaac, it's a case of continuing to work hard and develop on his game and try to see where that will take him.

On Friday night's trip to Stoke in Premier League 2…

It's really nice to be able to play there under the lights and it's one we are really looking forward to. Sometimes games at night can be a bit more special and it's a really nice stadium. Training has been really good this week again, we've managed to get some really good work in, so we are really hoping we can do well. It's at a really big stadium, so hopefully a few people will come and watch. It's a good pitch and we are really looking forward to playing there.

On Koumas enjoying a fruitful loan so far at Stoke...

I think that has always got to be at the forefront of any discussion when it comes to loans, and Lewis has done very well. Yes, we have had our ups and downs, but we have had a couple of boys on loan in the Championship – Lewis is one of them. So it does allow us to keep everything in kind of context.

We want to try to produce players and develop them and give them opportunities to go on loan and try to develop their game in the senior game. Lewis has done extremely well at Stoke. We won't get to see him as their first team are away at Norwich City. We have watched his games and it's been great to see how well he has done.