Sir Kenny Dalglish reckons Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams are ready to step up to the plate for Liverpool amid the club's current injury crisis.
Jurgen Klopp has lost Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez to injury, and is having to turn to the academy to get him out of a hole.
Phillips made his Premier League debut against West Ham two weeks ago, while Williams turned out for the Reds against Atalanta in the Champions League.
Both showed Klopp they are ready for the responsibility of more minutes at the highest level, and former Liverpool manager Dalglish has backed the duo to get the Reds through this turbulent time.
"It's difficult for anybody to step in, but at 19 years of age Williams didn't do too badly against Atalanta," Dalglish told the Liverpool Echo.
"He was there and stood up, the first header he cleared everybody out and made sure it was his and Nat Phillips did well in the game at Anfield as well.
"Whether they're ready long-term it remains to be seen, but Nat was over in Germany on loan last season and did really well so maybe he is a little bit more experienced.
"As I say though, you've got a couple of choices there – they'll want to play. It might not be perfect timing for them because the next game is difficult against Leicester but Jurgen gets most of his decisions right and I have no doubt he'll get this one right too."
Are Phillips and Williams ready to step up to the plate? Have your say here.
* Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip.
