Steve McManaman has heaped praise on Liverpool's new batch of youngsters who hold the key to the future of the club.
The former star winger was present at the Reds' U18 side beat Derby County 5-2 in the Youth Cup on Wednesday and was in a buoyant mood regarding the prospects of such players as Jordan Rossiter - who could feature in the weekend's FA Cup clash with Bolton - and Jordan Williams.
"I'm really excited, it's great to see. The first team is full of younger players, admittedly some of them have been bought in but a lot of them are younger players and as you can see they've got a great crop of young kids," McManaman told the Liverpool Echo on Wednesday.
"Jordan Rossiter wasn't involved today (Youth Cup) but he was in the crowd and is involved with the first team, Jordan Williams has been involved with the first team, (striker) Ryan Kent's got an injury and they're all progressing.
"And if they keep listening to the likes of Alex (Inglethorpe), Nick Beale and Neil Critchley, they're all coming on in leaps and bounds and if they keep on improving we'll see them all in the first team.
"There's nothing better than one of the young kids coming through the ranks and being in the first team squad."
