Jurgen Klopp has admitted to BT Sport, during their live Champions League coverage, that even he didn’t know how Rhys Williams would cope with playing for Liverpool last night.
Williams was forced to come on to the pitch when Fabinho picked up a hamstring injury in the first-half of Liverpool’s game against Midtjylland.
The prospect of entering the field at 0-0 in such an important game could have been a daunting one for a teenager who was playing non-league football just a year ago.
But Williams came through the test unscathed as he put in an excellent display, as Liverpool picked up a 2-0 win.
And Klopp said: “Rhys Williams came on – 19 years old – he has two UCL appearances now, more UCL appearances than Premier League appearances, that’s pretty rare!”
“Nobody knows how will the nerves be of Rhys, but they were fine so that was good.”
Williams’s performance may have helped him win the trust of Klopp.
With Liverpool needing to find a centre-back ahead of their game against West Ham United, Williams may just have a chance of featuring alongside Joe Gomez.
Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho will almost definitely be out, with Joel Matip now a serious doubt.
And it could be that Williams is given the nod to make his first Premier League start after such an impressive showing yesterday.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
