It’s not just Liverpool’s first team that have been badly stung by injuries this season, Barry Lewtas’ Under-21s have been heavily-depleted at times too.
That was certainly the case when they travelled to Man City on Sunday, eventually falling to a 3-1 defeat at the City Academy Stadium. The fact they could name only four substitutes on the bench, with one of them player-coach Jay Spearing and none of them attacking players summed it up.
Layton Stewart, Oakley Cannonier, Ben Doak, Kaide Gordon, Harvey Blair, James Balagizi, Tom Hill, and Lewis Koumas were all absent, while the young Reds were also without defenders Rhys Williams, Calvin Ramsay, Owen Beck, James Norris, and Isaac Mabaya. Throw in Stefan Bajcetic’s senior promotion, and Jarrell Quansah and Luke Chambers’ loan moves in January and their numbers are somewhat limited.
