Second chances in football, if they happen to arrive, are priceless. Few know that better than Stephen Darby.
While Rafa Benitez was relieved to escape the Madejski Stadium safe in the knowledge Liverpool would have another opportunity to secure a place in the FA Cup fourth round, it was a bittersweet evening for Darby.
On one hand, there was the inevitable sense of frustration; he, like his team-mates, wanted to negotiate the first hurdle on the road to Wembley without trouble, to sail through into the draw with a performance to build on the win at Aston Villa.
There is no disputing Liverpool were horribly off colour 10 days ago against Reading, a pale shadow of the team that performed with such conviction and confidence in the Midlands.
From a personal viewpoint, though, Darby can look back on that game with great satisfaction; thrust into the limelight for the first time since making a costly slip against Fiorentina in the Champions League, his determination to atone was instantly evident. Spurred on by the encouragement he had received from Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and “too many others to mention” in the days and weeks since, Darby was Liverpool’s star man on January 2, embodying defiance in that 1-1 draw.
With Glen Johnson sidelined for at least another four weeks due to damaged medial ligaments, Benitez has a gap to fill on the right side of his defence and Darby – who led Liverpool to FA Youth Cup success in 2007 – is anxious to stake his claim.
Above all, however, Darby wants to show Benitez the faith he placed in him was not misplaced; the 22-year-old appreciates how other managers might have closed the door once and for all after such a costly error, and he will not let his second chance go without a fight.
“It was just so pleasing that the manager had the confidence to put me back in,” said Darby.
“The FA Cup is a massive competition. We knew not to underestimate Reading and that it was going to be a difficult game. But it was a massive confidence boost for me, as it shows that if you work hard and keep you head down, the manager is willing to throw you in. Everyone had something to say and gave me advice but it was a question of showing I was mentally strong.
“You have to keep the right attitude. Fiorentina was a tough learning curve. I had to take the positive from that game, try and make the incident make me a better player, keep your focus and keep working hard. You have to be your own worst critic if you want to improve.”
Improvement is certainly something Liverpool need to do during the second half of the campaign and performances as powder puff as the one they served up against the Royals must become a thing of the past. Still, turning a negative into a positive, at least Liverpool are still in the FA Cup, and, all things being equal, they should have far too much firepower on home soil this evening.
Fresh and raring to go after seeing Sunday’s scheduled game against Tottenham postponed, Darby says the there is a motivation within the group to embark on a winning spree – starting against Reading.
“We just want to try and get a run of games together to build confidence and it was just frustrating that we never had chance to do that at the weekend; at least training wasn’t disrupted too much,” said Darby.
“Obviously there are good sides and bad sides to missing a weekend but the one plus is that we have had a bit more time to prepare for Reading; we’ve had chance to put right the things that did not go so well in the first place. Reading showed that they are a good side and they gave us a tough game at their place – it was a typical FA Cup tie – but we have got the quality and ability to go through. Hopefully we can do the job here. They haven’t just got one threat; they work well together as a side and, as they showed in the first game, they put us under a lot of pressure. We know what to expect and we’ll be ready to make sure we get the right result.”
Indeed, one result could set them on the road to Wembley. And having won the junior version, Darby is eager to repeat the feat in the senior competition.
“It would mean everything,” he said. “Having watched the FA Cup on TV, you know how huge the competition is and to be a part of a team that won it would be something else, the biggest team in the world in the biggest competition. We want to give a trophy to the fans.”
While Rafa Benitez was relieved to escape the Madejski Stadium safe in the knowledge Liverpool would have another opportunity to secure a place in the FA Cup fourth round, it was a bittersweet evening for Darby.
On one hand, there was the inevitable sense of frustration; he, like his team-mates, wanted to negotiate the first hurdle on the road to Wembley without trouble, to sail through into the draw with a performance to build on the win at Aston Villa.
There is no disputing Liverpool were horribly off colour 10 days ago against Reading, a pale shadow of the team that performed with such conviction and confidence in the Midlands.
From a personal viewpoint, though, Darby can look back on that game with great satisfaction; thrust into the limelight for the first time since making a costly slip against Fiorentina in the Champions League, his determination to atone was instantly evident. Spurred on by the encouragement he had received from Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and “too many others to mention” in the days and weeks since, Darby was Liverpool’s star man on January 2, embodying defiance in that 1-1 draw.
With Glen Johnson sidelined for at least another four weeks due to damaged medial ligaments, Benitez has a gap to fill on the right side of his defence and Darby – who led Liverpool to FA Youth Cup success in 2007 – is anxious to stake his claim.
Above all, however, Darby wants to show Benitez the faith he placed in him was not misplaced; the 22-year-old appreciates how other managers might have closed the door once and for all after such a costly error, and he will not let his second chance go without a fight.
“It was just so pleasing that the manager had the confidence to put me back in,” said Darby.
“The FA Cup is a massive competition. We knew not to underestimate Reading and that it was going to be a difficult game. But it was a massive confidence boost for me, as it shows that if you work hard and keep you head down, the manager is willing to throw you in. Everyone had something to say and gave me advice but it was a question of showing I was mentally strong.
“You have to keep the right attitude. Fiorentina was a tough learning curve. I had to take the positive from that game, try and make the incident make me a better player, keep your focus and keep working hard. You have to be your own worst critic if you want to improve.”
Improvement is certainly something Liverpool need to do during the second half of the campaign and performances as powder puff as the one they served up against the Royals must become a thing of the past. Still, turning a negative into a positive, at least Liverpool are still in the FA Cup, and, all things being equal, they should have far too much firepower on home soil this evening.
Fresh and raring to go after seeing Sunday’s scheduled game against Tottenham postponed, Darby says the there is a motivation within the group to embark on a winning spree – starting against Reading.
“We just want to try and get a run of games together to build confidence and it was just frustrating that we never had chance to do that at the weekend; at least training wasn’t disrupted too much,” said Darby.
“Obviously there are good sides and bad sides to missing a weekend but the one plus is that we have had a bit more time to prepare for Reading; we’ve had chance to put right the things that did not go so well in the first place. Reading showed that they are a good side and they gave us a tough game at their place – it was a typical FA Cup tie – but we have got the quality and ability to go through. Hopefully we can do the job here. They haven’t just got one threat; they work well together as a side and, as they showed in the first game, they put us under a lot of pressure. We know what to expect and we’ll be ready to make sure we get the right result.”
Indeed, one result could set them on the road to Wembley. And having won the junior version, Darby is eager to repeat the feat in the senior competition.
“It would mean everything,” he said. “Having watched the FA Cup on TV, you know how huge the competition is and to be a part of a team that won it would be something else, the biggest team in the world in the biggest competition. We want to give a trophy to the fans.”
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