No-Klopp Kop still a special place, insists Reds’ coach

Liverpool Under-23s coach Neil Critchley insists Jurgen Klopp's presence is always felt by the club’s younger players – even if he will not be at tonight’s FA Cup fourth-round replay at home to Shrewsbury Town.

The Reds boss has been criticised for observing the mid-season Premier League break by sending his players away on holiday and taking a break himself, meaning he will miss the tie at Anfield.

Many critics felt Klopp should be there on the night but his stand-in does not believe it makes a difference.

"He gives myself, the staff and players unbelievable support so I can speak to him whenever I like when I'm down here," said Critchley, who took charge of a youthful team for December's Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at Aston Villa, when the first team were at the Club World Cup in Qatar.

"He supports the young players unbelievably well, as he has shown so far this season, so his presence, even if he isn't there, is always felt by our younger players and by myself.

"I also think maybe one per cent that came into his thinking with his decision was the way we played against Aston Villa, he maybe thought the boys deserved another opportunity."

Critchley will field many of the side which was beaten 5-0 by Villa, even though they put in a decent performance considering the circumstances.

He does not believe that experience will impact them second time around against the Sky Bet League One side.

"You can't buy experiences like that, it is probably worth a million of my coaching sessions," he added.

"I thought it was a little bit harsh on us, but we have to take lessons from that.

“We didn't do well enough in both penalty boxes and if you are going into a resultsdriven business you have to win games of football.

"We didn't keep the ball at one end and didn't score at the other end and that's not a recipe for success, so our aim is to do a lot better than that tomorrow night."

Critchley added: "Is there maybe more pressure now on Shrewsbury to win the game because of the team that we have out? Possibly. But that might work in our favour."