Liverpool youth guru Frank McParland says Raheem Sterling deserved his preseason chance against Borussia Monchengladbach.
The 15 year-old was given minutes by manager Roy Hodgson in a surprise move.
"I met up with the boss when we went to Germany. I spent two days with him and we had a good chat about the young players we have," explained McParland to liverpoolfc.tv.
"We think we have some players with potential and he was really interested to hear about them. It was a really positive conversation.
"He asked about Raheem (Sterling) and after we had spoken, he decided to put him in the squad for the game with Borussia.
"The boy is only 15 so it was great that he could play 10 minutes or so. Everyone at the Academy was delighted about that. He is probably the youngest ever player to get near the first team and it was good that the manager showed his trust in our judgment.
"He's still getting to know everything about the club and we are looking forward to working with him more and more in the weeks ahead."
