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Steven Crawford

Liverpool come to Coleraine's aid in UEFA Youth League

Coleraine's bid for an extended run in the UEFA Youth League has been assisted by Liverpool FC.

The Bannsiders' preparations are in full swing for their second round clash with Genk at The Showgrounds on Wednesday afternoon.

They have been given a helping hand by the Premier League giants, whose Under-19 side beat the Belgian outfit on penalties in the last-16 of the competition last season.

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Former Irish League defender Barry Hunter, who hails from Coleraine, is chief scout at Anfield nowadays and he was only too happy to be able to help out his hometown side.

"I'm friendly with Gary Taylor (Coleraine U19 coach) and I just offered some help," explained Hunter.

"Our lads played Genk last year and our scout who covers Belgium watched their games, so he'll already have done analysis on individual players as part of his job.

"You're talking Under-19, which is sort of development players, first team development players, so he has to have an eye on them.

"He broke down who he thinks would be playing, who's the weak ones, who's the strong ones and I sent that to Gary along with some match analysis too.

"That's not my thing but the club is putting something together just to try and help."

Hunter has worked for the Reds since 2012 having previously held a similar position at Manchester City.

The 53-year-old made the move to become a scout after a distinguished playing career with Wrexham and Reading.

Coleraine has always been close to his heart though, especially given his father Victor's long association with the club having been a player, youth coach, first team manager and Honorary Vice-President during nearly 50 years at the club.

Hunter hailed the achievements of the current crop of young stars following their 5-4 victory over FK Pobeda in the first round of the UEFA Youth league at the start of October, becoming the first Northern Irish team to do so.

"It's an incredible achievement," said Hunter

"We were discussing it at the training ground one day as they all know the name Coleraine through me.

"They were all saying it was an incredible achievement to get through and get Genk.

"It's fantastic for the boys and great for the league in general.

"The young boys would take a lot from that experience, playing against teams they're not used to playing against, different styles and systems.

"Away from home it's a completely different experience, different environment and atmosphere.

"Some of these players will probably go on to have great careers so this is a magic experience for them."

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