EFL Cup

Klopp: We will have some fun with ‘exceptional talent’ Jones

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Liverpool's Curtis Jones

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits they ‘will have some fun’ with Curtis Jones after the youngster starred in their 7-2 Carabao Cup third-round victory over Lincoln.

The Toxteth-born 19-year-old scored twice to help take the game beyond their hosts before half-time and dictated play from midfield like an experienced pro.

Klopp has introduced the teenager gradually to his first team but he looks set to play a more involved role this season.

‘First half really good, start of the second half really good,’ was Klopp’s assessment of the youngster’s performance.

‘There is still space for improvement but everyone knows my opinion of Curtis Jones, he is an exceptional talent and we will have some fun with him I am pretty sure in the future.

‘Both goals were difficult, the second one the first touch was absolutely exceptional between two opponents and then he opens up and sees the opportunity and finishes it off.’

Xherdan Shaqiri, somebody who has become something of a fringe player in the last 18 months and would be one of the men Liverpool would be happy to offload, opened the scoring with a superb free-kick and had a good game in midfield.

Klopp offered some hope to the Swiss, and the likes of Divock Origi who scored an 89th-minute goal to round off the scoring but was relatively ineffectual apart from that, as he insisted the door is not closed on anyone’s career.

‘Everyone used the opportunity to show up, that is very important,’ he said.

‘My door is always open and if a player shows desire – because they all can play football – that is why they are at Liverpool. There are a lot of games in the season.

‘They showed desire, we saw attitude tonight, so many things of what I like and what we want to see from a Liverpool team.

‘Really a lot of good things and that is why we came here, we wanted to win but we wanted to play good as well and I saw a good game.”Lincoln manager Michael Appleton admitted his League One side were out-classed but was still disappointed in the scoreline.

‘I think in the first half there was a class of finishing from Liverpool, with one or two mistakes,’ he said.

‘We had a couple of moments ourselves in the first half but in the second half it was very difficult and a disappointing performance – I thought we should have scored four or five goals.’

Liverpool’s first four goals were all scored from outside the penalty area and Appleton was asked if they could have done more to stop them.

‘If we had put some kind of bucket in the top corner or maybe a sheet to stop them going in,’ he said.

‘In terms of the build-up for the second and fourth goals we definitely could have prevented them with a couple of different decision.

‘But you get punished by these side at this level.’