HEIGHWAY: SHANKS WOULD BE THRILLED

Jimmy Rice 15 January 2007 Steve Heighway has praised the maturity of Liverpool Under-18s, claiming the late Bill Shankly would have been proud of the way they dumped Chelsea out of the FA Youth Cup on Saturday.

Heighway watched his youngsters battle their way into the fifth round despite being on the back foot for much of the second-half. "It was cup tie football. I said to the boys that the biggest compliment I could give to them was that Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley would have been delighted," said the manager following the 2-0 victory at Anfield. "You don't get any prizes for being pretty in cup football. There were times when we would have liked to have played a bit more, but Shanks and Paisley would have been thrilled because we stuck to our tactical plan and we stuck together. I'm thrilled at their maturity today. "They had the ball a lot and were at us a lot, and with young players that can sometimes create a pressure. But people like Robbie Threlfall, Jay Spearing, Michael Burns and Stephen Darby are very mature lads." Liverpool now face either Coventry or Reading at home in their quest to retain the Youth Cup. Heighway believes this year's crop have the appetite and togetherness to go all the way again. He said: "I signed nine of these boys nine years ago. They've been together yonks, so they love each other. It's their time to have a go at something."