Steve Morison admits his Cardiff youngsters will be “scared and nervous” on their FA Cup visit to Liverpool.
Over 50,000 are expected at Anfield for Sunday’s fourth-round tie, including an 8,000-strong travelling support from south Wales, and Morison will field a young Cardiff side against Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League title-chasers.
Bluebirds captain Sean Morrison is set to miss out after being hurt in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Barnsley, while fellow defender Curtis Nelson and midfielder Joe Ralls are also injury doubts for the Sky Bet Championship side.
Alfie Doughty, Cody Drameh, Max Watters and Uche Ikpeazu are also cup-tied, and Morison has promised to turn to the youngsters who helped eliminate Preston in round three by handing them another chance at Anfield.
Cardiff boss Morison said: “It’s a really good opportunity to reward some of the younger players that have been tasked with looking after this football club over the last six months and trying to get them away from the bottom of the table.
“We are going to be playing at one, if not the most, iconic stadiums in football.
“We will be in front of 8,000 Cardiff City fans and a full Kop, and as a football player it doesn’t get better than that.
“Some will be scared, some will be nervous and they should be.
“It’s about how well they control that. Some of them may never get the chance to play again at Anfield and may get that extra urge off the back of it to say actually: ‘This is where I want to play all my games of football.’
“We know they’re good football players and a lot of it comes down to controlling that emotion, the mental side of it on days like that.
“We’ll do everything we can in the next couple of days to get them as well prepared as possible and see what happens on the day.”
Former Wales striker Morison played at Anfield during his time in the top-flight at Norwich – a 1-1 draw in October 2011.
Morison later scored against Liverpool in a 5-2 defeat at Carrow Road, when Uruguay striker Luis Suarez inflicted his customary punishment on the Canaries.
“I went there with Norwich,” said Morison, who helped Milwall to an FA Cup quarter-final in 2017 before the Lions’ run was ended by a resounding 6-0 thumping at Tottenham.
“Liverpool had Suarez up top, Steven Gerrard. We went 1-0 up and came away with a draw. It was great.
“I think the next three times we played them Suarez decided he was going to score three hat-tricks.
“I wasn’t one for getting shirts or anything as I was focused on the game. But ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ comes on as you walk out and the hairs stand on your neck.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of that again. There’s so many positives to take home from the day and one we’re looking forward to.”
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