Power in reserve so vital to Liverpool's future

Winning prizes is always great and if Liverpool are crowned national champions it will be a fantastic achievement for all involved.

But the real test of a reserve team is whether or not it can produce players for the first team and only when this question is answered will we find out just how good Liverpool's second string is.

Damien Plessis and Emiliano Insua have both made the step up in recent weeks and I have been impressed by the way they have acquitted themselves because it's never easy to go from reserve team to first team.

It's all about development at that stage of your career and that's why it is vital that the manager makes the right decisions at the right time for the young players and also that the young players take all the advice they are given and do everything they can to make progress.

I'm still a great believer in the benefits of reserve team football, especially in an age when so many young players are being brought in from abroad because it gives them the ideal opportunity to learn what the game is all about in this country away from the media glare.

Looking back at my own career, I honestly believe that had I not spent time in Liverpool's reserves when I first joined the club that I would not have gone on to be as successful as I was.

Man City and Liverpool both wanted to sign me from Chester and I ended up going to Liverpool but the interesting thing was City wanted to put me straight in the first team.

Liverpool, though, wanted to do what they did with all young players they brought in - put me in the reserves for a spell so I could find my feet and get used to the club and the way it did things.

At the time I wasn't particularly confident in myself and playing in the reserves meant I could make mistakes without the pressure of making them in the first team.

That's a really important part of a young player's development and I think it would be better for football if more clubs took reserve team football as seriously as Liverpool do.

When I first signed we used to win the reserve league pretty much every year and there were several players who came through the set-up to play in the first team.

That's what the young lads who are involved in tomorrow night's final will be looking to do and the fact that the game is at Anfield will also play an important part in their progression.

Hopefully they will get a big crowd because they really deserve it and when you play in front of thousands of people at a ground like Anfield it makes a big difference to young players.

There will certainly be enough good players on show to make the game worth watching. Insua and Plessis are likely to be involved, as will the prolific Hungarian striker Kirisztian Nemeth who has scored a lot of goals this season.

My own one to watch is Jay Spearing who has impressed me every time I've seen him.

Let's hope Liverpool can win the national title because it will prove that the club is in good shape for the future.