Liverpool’s pre-season fixtures got underway on a winning note with goals from new boy Craig Bellamy (52 minutes) and youngster Paul Anderson (5 minutes) giving Liverpool a 2-0 win. Bellamy wasn’t the only debutant in the side, with a mixture of new signings and youth players a part of the 22-man squad, all 22 players getting at least 20 minutes’ action.
Speaking after the game, Bellamy revealed to the official Liverpool FC website just how delighted he was with his scoring debut: “I hope that’s the first of many goals for me in a Liverpool shirt. It was nice to get a goal at the end of what has been an amazing couple of weeks for me. I knew I was going to play ten minutes more than many other players at the start of the second half and so I was hoping a chance would come along for me.”
As a Liverpool supporter himself, it was something special for him to line up next to Robbie Fowler, if only for 11 minutes: “It was amazing to be in the same team as Robbie Fowler and it was nice that he set me up for the goal. I know the manager has set me a 15 goal target for this season but I don’t think I’ll be allowed to count this one.”
The Welsh international continued by saying that he thought the day was a success all round, “Overall I thought it was a good work-out and a good day for Wrexham to have Liverpool at their place. We got through it without injuries as well which is the most important thing. I think we’re stepping up training this week and concentrating more on power and speed which is obviously good for me because that’s what my game is all about. We’ve been doing a lot of stamina work so far but we’re moving up a gear now.”
Those players who were involved in the World Cup are still to get back into action for the Reds, and Bellamy seems to be pretty excited at the thought of lining up next to some of those other players: “Of course we’ve still got a lot of players to come back who weren’t in the squad today. We were missing the international players and one or two with injuries. It’s a mouth-watering prospect to think of all the players we have here when everyone is available.”
Liverpool: Jerzy Dudek (David Martin, 70), Miki Roque (Danny O’Donnell, 46), Steve Finnan (Godwin Antwi, 46), Gabriel Paletta (Sami Hyypia, 46), John Arne Riise (James Smith, 46), Jack Hobbs (Lee Peltier, 46), Paul Anderson (Florent Sinama Pongolle, 46), Boudewijn Zenden (Salif Diao, 46), Craig Bellamy (Adam Hammill, 57), Danny Guthrie (Robbie Threlfall, 67), Besian Idrizaj (Robbie Fowler, 46)