Still to pick players who "deserve" Anfield chance
Will Still says he will pick a team of players who deserve to play when Southampton make the trip to Anfield for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup third round tie.
The manager made eight changes in the first round at Northampton and nine changes in the second round at Norwich, and admitted he will shuffle his pack again at the home of the Premier League leaders.
Still should be picking from a similar squad to Saturday’s defeat at Hull, with no fresh absentees reported by the boss in his pre-match press conference.
“I think we’ve got a massive squad. Some players need to play, some players need an opportunity, so that’s what’s going to happen, but we’re never going to completely disregard it and put a load of Under-21s in,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of good players, and some good players that deserve this opportunity, but also some players that have done really well considering the lesser results of the last few weeks, so it’s about getting the right mix between those players that need to play and the ones that deserve to play as well.
“It will present a few opportunities for other players, so just go for it – don’t overthink it, don’t overanalyse it, stand up and be counted for. Whatever team will start tomorrow will be the team we think is the best team to play that game at this moment in time, and have a right go.”
Still is excited by the prospect of facing the reigning Premier League champions, and glad of the opportunity to put right the wrongs of the trip to Humberside.
“I think it’s a good thing that we’re playing again, and we get the opportunity to erase the mistakes that we made on Saturday, but no one is stupid, no one is blind to what the challenge is tomorrow night,” he added.
“They’re the best team in England, probably one of the best teams in Europe, and we have to go there with the belief that we can play football and that we’re good at doing certain things in our register. We just have to show a bit of personality, a bit of bravery to stand back up, to get back up.
“I just want us to have a go, to be brave and show a bit of what we’re about, not just go there and fold over and crumple. We need to be strong, we need to be good at what we do. Just go there and have a go.”
