Hughes urges Stoke to hit home heights against Liverpool

Liverpool came out of the traps the quicker of the two sides and dominated the opening exchanges with both Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana forcing Stoke stopper Jack Butland into smart saves.

Liverpool suffered further injury problems at the Britannia Stadium as playmaker Philippe Coutinho limped off with a hamstring problem during the first half.

Klopp started with Brad Smith at left back against West Ham, and is expected to play the Australian fullback again, as he looks to build a solid back four.

Liverpool can now head to Anfield buoyed by a 1-0 lead, with a Wembley final awaiting the eventual victor. We know this, we have not solved this.

Liverpool now have six players either with, or recovering from, hamstring injuries but with such a packed fixture schedule, with an FA Cup trip to Exeter on Friday, Klopp does not know what he can do about it.

Klopp won’t have as much choice with selection, due to his Liverpool squad being ravaged by injuries.

“Hopefully, in the future, these are the games we expect to be involved in”.

“We now have three injured centre-halves and the only fit one (Kolo Toure) got a cramp in the last minute”.

With Stoke preparing for Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final clash against Liverpool, Hughes said he was ready to lead the club to his first Cup final as a manager after failing in three previous semi-finals. Klopp earned his first win as Reds boss in the next round, Nathaniel Clyne scoring the victor against Bournemouth, but it was in the quarter finals where the Reds were at their destructive best.

“With [Jon] Walters and [Peter] Crouch late on it is always hard [to cope at centre-back], but it is a position I have played in a few games this season and if the manager needs me, I need to deliver”.

Mark Hughes feels it is vitally important that Stoke City gain a positive result at the Britannia Stadium this week.

The host was galvanized by Walters’ presence, and some last ditch blocking from Toure and Lucas denied Stoke in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The key was that we didn’t concede another and that was a danger.

“We went a lot more direct second half and you need something to fall for you and we didn’t get that”, he said.

But Klopp’s men held on to take a slender advantage back to Anfield, reports the Liverpool Echo.