Liverpool left 'devastated' by more referee…

Liverpool left 'devastated' by more referee controversy as striker given return hope

There was an unwanted sense of deja vu for Liverpool's "devastated" next generation on Friday evening.

Having been controversially dumped out of the UEFA Youth League at Sporting Lisbon last month, this time the Reds were left bewildered by their Premier League International Cup exit at home to Crystal Palace.

If there were gripes over the winning goal from Victor Akinwale - Liverpool claimed the Palace striker fouled Billy Koumetio in the build-up - they were nothing compared to the disbelief at two clear handball offences by visiting players inside their own penalty area being overlooked during the closing stages.

"It was a galling one to take," says U21s coach Barry Lewtas. "I said it against Sporting Lisbon in a quarter-final and now I'll say that same thing again, the lads are devastated. They feel as if the season has been cut twice by referee decisions. I know we didn't score here and didn't in Sporting, but the lads are devastated.

"For the goal, their player has backed into Billy and not made any attempt to play the ball. To not give an easy decision and for it to count as a goal, it becomes a bizarre decision. It's a cheap foul but it's a foul.

"For the penalties, the last one the Palace player has got his hand in the air. Sometimes you see things and sometimes you don't. But we don't control the referees, he saw it in a different way - maybe to everyone else."

Lewtas - who welcomed back Harvey Blair as a substitute after the winger had been sidelined by a broken nose - adds: "We said to the boys at half-time to leave the referee and concentrate on our game and do what we can control, and I thought we did that. I thought the lads did themselves proud, but it was disappointing.

"We knew Palace would come hard at us in the first half but we did believe they would tire, we knew they'd not be able to keep that up through the game. We had to earn our way into the game and it was one-way traffic in the second half."

There is little time to rest as third-placed Liverpool play a rearranged Premier League 2 game at home to Brighton on Monday afternoon (kick-off 2pm). Mateusz Musialowski is hopeful of involvement having been one of several players to miss out on Friday.

"We have had quite a bit of sickness so there are a couple of players who have been unwell and weren't involved," explains Lewtas. "Hopefully nobody else falls and a few come back. There are a couple of teams ahead of us and we want to chase them down."

Meanwhile, Oakley Cannonier is edging nearer a return from the injury issues that have restricted him to just 10 minutes for the U21 side since October. On the possibility of the 19-year-old striker playing again this campaign, Lewtas says: "Oakley has a chance. We have to make sure he is fully fit beforehand. We will hopefully get him a game before the end of the season."

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