Frankie McAvoy says he and his Preston side need to embrace battling with Premier League giants Liverpool as the former Hamilton man gears up for one of his biggest challenges.
Preston take on Liverpool in the last 16 of the English League Cup on Wednesday.
McAvoy has been Preston manager on a permanent basis this term after a spell as interim boss last season. He joined Hamilton in 2005 as an academy coach.
He later became academy director at Accies before forming part of Alex Neil's first-team coaching staff, following him to Norwich City and Preston. The role at Deepdale is McAvoy's first as his own man.
And he says that while a big task awaits the Lilywhites, the former Hamilton man is keen to take it all in.
"It’s something we need to embrace," McAvoy told the club's in-house media. "It’s not every day that one of the best clubs in the world comes to you.
"I think they have one of the best managers in the world in Jurgen Klopp as well. He will pick the team that he feels is good enough to come and win.
“It doesn’t matter who they put on the pitch, it’s going to be a formidable game. They’re one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"[They have a] fantastic history about them and at the moment they’ve probably got one of the top coaches in the world. I don’t think there’s any questions or doubt about that.
“They’re magnificent. You watch them, they pass, they move, their front three are electric, and even the ones who don’t get a game for them at the moment are fantastic players.
"It’s a monumental task. Nobody’s probably giving us any hope at all for us to get anything out of the game, but you never know what can happen. It’s a cup competition and we’ll go and we’ll give our utmost."
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