AcademyU21s preview: 'This is a great competition, every game is a challenge'

After losing 4-0 at home to PSV Eindhoven in the opening game in August, the Reds then suffered narrow 4-3 losses at the Academy to both Hertha BSC and Nordsjaelland.

Czechia outfit Sparta Prague have had a mixed campaign so far in the competition, with two losses and a 3-1 win over Manchester United in December.

Although neither side can now qualify for the knockout phase, pride is at stake when they meet this evening and Lewtas is expecting another tough challenge.

Ahead of the 7pm GMT kick-off, which you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO, read on as U21s head coach Lewtas speaks to Liverpoolfc.com about the Premier League International Cup journey this season.

On a return to action following the Christmas break…

It’s nice to have a break and we always say to the boys it could be their last one because we are hoping next year some of them are in training on Christmas Day and getting ready for first-team games. We are fortunate at U21 level we get a little bit of time off and a chance to recharge and refresh. For all of us, we couldn’t wait to get back and unfortunately our game was called off on Sunday, but we don’t have to wait too long for the next one.

On the challenge of playing two games this week, in the Premier League International Cup and Premier League 2…

The games have been really demanding so far this season. I think all of the games we have been involved in have been really good and we have been up against some quality teams in this Premier League International Cup. Every game is a challenge at this level, and won and lost at fine margins as well.

On the three games in the Premier League International Cup so far…

In the first game with PSV Eindhoven we had to hold our hands up on the day and say we were beaten by a really good team. We didn’t play as well as would have liked to have but in fairness they probably played as well as they have. On that particular evening we were well beaten but it was early in the season and a bit of a funny time for us, so we kind of used it as a bit of a wake-up call as to where we were.

The other two have been good-quality games, we could have defended better and we were disappointed with the goals we conceded. At the same time we have found the net as well and Nordsjaelland was a real high-quality game but we really let ourselves down in certain moments when we got back into the game. Overall, a really good competition with good-level games. We want to do well in every game but it would be nice to finish this competition with a win.

On the meeting with Sparta Prague…

These are difficult games in this competition because you are playing against really good opposition and Sparta Prague are no exception. What this competition has given us as well this season is the chance to give some of our younger lads an opportunity at this level as well, so for us it has been a really good competition to add to our programme. We’ve had some good nights in Kirkby so hopefully we can do that again on Wednesday.

On an exciting start to the new year with a trip to Stuttgart coming up in February in the knockout stage of the UEFA Youth League…

It was brilliant to qualify for the knockout stage and the lads deserve a lot of credit. The UEFA Youth League is a bit different this season in terms of a different format so it was certainly different from a coach point of view in how to navigate how we could qualify. In the past we had the home and away leg and you could work a few things out, but that wasn’t the case this time and we weren’t 100 per cent sure how many points would see us through. In the end we managed to qualify. I thought we started the game really well in our last game against Girona and then we were reduced to 10 men. That had a big impact on the game but we stayed in it, finished it strong and got the equaliser, and I was really pleased with the lads.

On the whole, it was a really good group campaign from us and I thought we played some good football against some good opposition. We qualified, which was the main thing, I thought we got stronger and stronger and performance levels got better and better. The important thing was to qualify first and foremost, we now have another game and hopefully we can develop into a better team than what we were at the start of the season.