Liverpool to make late selection decision after Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas heroics

In among the delirious and borderline disbelieving Liverpool end at Wembley on Sunday were a group who had more reason than most to be hugely motivated by the remarkable occasion they had just witnessed.

The Reds' under-18 squad, coached by Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, had made the trip to the national stadium for the League Cup final against Chelsea, and were given stirring evidence of the pathway from the Academy to the first team.

Caoimhin Kelleher had long made the step up at Kirkby, while Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah have this season become first-team squad regulars. But it was the sight of 19-year-old midfield duo Bobby Clark and James McConnell and 18-year-old striker Jayden Danns that underlined how unexpected opportunities can be grasped. Trey Nyoni, a 16-year-old midfielder, also received a winners' medal.

"We took all the under-18 players down to Wembley," says Bridge-Wilkinson to the ECHO. "It's great that a couple of the lads involved with the first team could easily have been sat with us.

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"I don't think any team talk could do what those boys seeing it with their own eyes did. Less than two weeks ago, Jayden was getting changed here at the Academy with these boys. And he's gone from that to playing at a major cup final and getting a winners' medal. Those things speak for themselves.

"It was definitely a unique situation and one we would never have planned for. But what it does show to everyone is the manager and the staff are willing to give youngsters a go. Even in a major cup final, they were happy to throw the youngsters on.

"It was an amazing