Liverpool signalled their intent to fight it out on all fronts with the line-up they named at Preston at Saturday – but Sammy Lee has banished talk about going for a treble.
The assistant manager again led operations from the bench for the third-round tie, although Rafael Benitez was sat just a row behind him as he closes in on a full recovery from his kidney stones operations.
With Benitez all but back in full charge, choosing a weakened side would perhaps have been more forgivable than it has been in past years, given Liverpool’s strong position at the top of the Premier League and a Champions League campaign to resume next month.
However, Diego Cavalieri replacing Pepe Reina in goal was the only obvious delve into the second string, although Dirk Kuyt was also rested.
With Steven Gerrard captaining the side in a bid to banish the troubles of the past week and Fernando Torres also sent on for his first action since November, there seems to be no sign of Liverpool sacrificing their FA Cup ambitions in favour of arguably more pressing concerns in the second half of the campaign.
“We’ve got nothing but respect for the competition and the opposition,” said Lee. “We feel we showed that with the team we put out.
“We never think we’re comfortable anywhere – we’re never in a comfort zone and we’re working very hard to make sure we improve on a daily basis.
“We’ve never made any rash promises at this football club. We’re just working hard to improve and hopefully that will manifest itself in results.
“Every side we put out we feel is our strongest side to go and win in any given scenario. I have nothing but credit for these group of players and they are working tirelessly on a daily basis to improve.
“At this football club anything is possible, but I have to be careful and I don’t want people to think that’s me saying we’re going to do this and that.
“We’ve never talk about titles, trebles or make rash promises at Liverpool.”
Lee has, however, promised to keep working with Robbie Keane to help boost his goal tally.
The £20m man spurned a host of chances at Deepdale as his struggle to hit his stride since joining from Spurs last summer continued into the new year.
Lee said after Saturday’s game: “Robbie shouldn’t be down because I thought he got in some great positions.
“The main thing is that we continue to keep creating those chances. Robbie’s worked very, very hard for this football club.
“People talk about this and about that, but we know the quality Robbie’s got and you’ve seen that today in abundance where he’s made some great runs.
“There’s no need to press the panic button – far from it.
“We know his quality and what Robbie Keane brings to this football club. There’s no problem with him – none whatsoever.
The assistant manager again led operations from the bench for the third-round tie, although Rafael Benitez was sat just a row behind him as he closes in on a full recovery from his kidney stones operations.
With Benitez all but back in full charge, choosing a weakened side would perhaps have been more forgivable than it has been in past years, given Liverpool’s strong position at the top of the Premier League and a Champions League campaign to resume next month.
However, Diego Cavalieri replacing Pepe Reina in goal was the only obvious delve into the second string, although Dirk Kuyt was also rested.
With Steven Gerrard captaining the side in a bid to banish the troubles of the past week and Fernando Torres also sent on for his first action since November, there seems to be no sign of Liverpool sacrificing their FA Cup ambitions in favour of arguably more pressing concerns in the second half of the campaign.
“We’ve got nothing but respect for the competition and the opposition,” said Lee. “We feel we showed that with the team we put out.
“We never think we’re comfortable anywhere – we’re never in a comfort zone and we’re working very hard to make sure we improve on a daily basis.
“We’ve never made any rash promises at this football club. We’re just working hard to improve and hopefully that will manifest itself in results.
“Every side we put out we feel is our strongest side to go and win in any given scenario. I have nothing but credit for these group of players and they are working tirelessly on a daily basis to improve.
“At this football club anything is possible, but I have to be careful and I don’t want people to think that’s me saying we’re going to do this and that.
“We’ve never talk about titles, trebles or make rash promises at Liverpool.”
Lee has, however, promised to keep working with Robbie Keane to help boost his goal tally.
The £20m man spurned a host of chances at Deepdale as his struggle to hit his stride since joining from Spurs last summer continued into the new year.
Lee said after Saturday’s game: “Robbie shouldn’t be down because I thought he got in some great positions.
“The main thing is that we continue to keep creating those chances. Robbie’s worked very, very hard for this football club.
“People talk about this and about that, but we know the quality Robbie’s got and you’ve seen that today in abundance where he’s made some great runs.
“There’s no need to press the panic button – far from it.
“We know his quality and what Robbie Keane brings to this football club. There’s no problem with him – none whatsoever.
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