“Like us, they will view this fixture as an opportunity, particularly as the game will take place in front of a TV audience, which I assume will include a lot of people hoping that there might be an upset. Last season we had similar occasions at home to Accrington Stanley and away to Plymouth Argyle so we should definitely use those experiences, good and bad, in this game.
“I would like to welcome Conor Hourihane, his players and staff and the directors and supporters of Barnsley to Anfield on what I am sure will be a big night for their club. I am aware that there will be those in the visiting dressing room who have connections with Liverpool, which will only add to the sense of anticipation.
“For us, it is about matching that passion in our own way. At the time of writing these notes it is too early to say what our starting line-up will be, but for whoever is in the team the message will be the same – bring all of your desire and all of your quality because you and we are going to need it.
“This is what we did in our most recent fixture against Arsenal and although our efforts could not bring a win over the line, there were a lot of positives that we should use going forward.
“Aside from chance creation, which I would be the first to say was not at the kind of level we need it to be at, so many other elements of our game were promising and this is something that we definitely need to build on.”
