AcademyU21s interview: Stoke win, James McConnell inspiration and Middlesbrough test

James McConnell’s second-half strike decided the Premier League 2 encounter, giving the young Reds their first win of 2025.

They will look to pick up three points again this weekend when they welcome Middlesbrough to the Academy on Sunday in a 2pm GMT kick-off – a game you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.

Read on for Liverpoolfc.com’s latest chat with Lewtas…

On the victory over Stoke…

It was a big win for us. Listen, we know how good we’ve been in parts of games and in games that have escaped us, and confidence has dipped in games, especially when we have conceded. Stoke was a tough test, they were well-drilled and well-organised with a real good way about them with the way they wanted to play. I just felt in the second half we were the team who stepped on them more because in the first half we didn’t get enough players higher up the pitch. We were able to keep the ball a bit more, so I was pleased.

On digging deep and going back to basics defensively…

These are young boys and we have just had a few switch-off moments in past games which have been really tough on us. I want to give Harvey Davies a mention as he was excellent in goal for us. In terms of his maturity and his distribution, I think he really helped and controlled the back line, so fair play to Harvey. The two lads at centre-back – Wellity Lucky and Amara Nallo – defended well and their concentration was excellent.

On a Premier League 2 debut at left-back for Clae Ewing…

He was excellent. He gave us a really nice balance and then on the right side I felt Isaac Mabaya and Kieran Morrison combined unbelievably well. We didn’t have Rio Ngumoha, who was away with England, but there were good signs with Clae and Trent Kone-Doherty down the left. If we can get these combinations to work then hopefully we can have a good finish to the season.

On McConnell’s standout performance…

He lifted us in that second half. Sometimes when it is 0-0 and you are searching for a win, you need players to really grab the game and set you on your way. Macca got the goal and nearly scored another one and he really drove us forward. I thought in the second half we competed a lot better, we won more tackles, more duels and won more second balls. Fair play to the lads because when you are searching for that win, do you stick or do you twist? We did twist and we got what we deserved.

On the challenge of Middlesbrough…

It’s always a tough game, there’s no question of that. We know what we are capable of as a young group of players but we also know for us that every game is a real challenge. We are really humble and we don’t underestimate any team. It is hard to win any game in this league but hopefully the win over Stoke pushes us on to the next step.