Neil Mellor's League Cup memories: Semi-final goal, defying the ...

The League Cup will always hold a very special place in my heart, that is for sure.

For a young player coming through the Academy, it's a competition that is the most realistic to try to get some minutes in the senior team – and that was the same for me.

The night of December 4, 2002, I made my Liverpool debut against Ipswich Town in the fourth round at Anfield. Playing for Liverpool in front of the Kop, well, it doesn't get much better than that.

It was an eventful night, too. Before the game, our manager Gerard Houllier had told everybody that I was the penalty taker should we get one.

Sure enough, after going a goal down I managed to win a penalty. Just as I had picked myself up, I had mud in my eye and out of the corner I could see El-Hadji Diouf had the ball!

I was a young player on my debut and didn't want to act unprofessional so I didn't say anything and he scored to make it 1-1, and we eventually won it with a penalty shootout.

In the semi-final that season we played Sheffield United and I was given another start by Houllier.

Michael Owen and Emile Heskey were on the bench for the first leg at Bramall Lane and I'm sure they must have looked at the teamsheet and thought, 'Are Liverpool for real with England's striker partnership on the bench?!' Gerard believed in me to give me that opportunity and I will always be very grateful to him for that.

To score in the semi-final was such a special moment and for it to be my first career goal, it's something I will obviously never forget.

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I was made up to score. Unfortunately we didn't win the first leg but I must admit, I was happy with my overall performance.

After winning the second leg 2-0, we got to the final against Manchester United.

Back then, of course, we only had five substitutes and Gerard took 17 players down in the squad. I was part of that group and I remember the manager saying to me if anyone gets ill I will be on the bench. But he wanted me to experience the final and be around the team and the dressing room to see what it was all about.

Obviously nobody got ill but it was an unbelievable experience and we won 2-0 against United with two Academy graduates, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, scoring the goals, so that made it extra-special.

In the 2004-05 season we made the final again. We had a new manager in Rafael Benitez and the culmination of that season was to be Istanbul.

We played Middlesbrough at Anfield in the fourth round and we won 2-0, with me scoring two late goals, and I remember my fellow graduate Richie Partridge providing the assist for the first goal.

That was a special night because it was the first time I had scored at Anfield for the seniors.

A lot of people still talk about the League Cup quarter-final tie against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and it's a night that still makes me smile to this day.

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I was still on cloud nine after netting that winner against Arsenal in the previous game and Rafa gave me another start.

We had nine Academy graduates all involved in the squad and Spurs had the likes of Robbie Keane, Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe and Freddie Kanoute all involved.

It was such a special night for the Academy and it brings back great memories.

We had Jerzy Dudek and Stephane Henchoz as our senior players and they were really good around the young players. They were always really good with us in the dressing room, two top pros making sure we felt welcome and we could express ourselves and didn't feel scared or intimidated.

I remember David Raven making a magnificent challenge to stop Defoe, who would have had a clear run at our goal. I still live by Ravo and he's still going on about that now in our local shop!

Ravo was a talented young player but he didn't get the chances that he wanted at Liverpool, though he did have a good career in the game.

We won it on penalties in the end with Richie and Welshy [John Welsh] netting in the shootout. I had been substituted because I was down to start against Aston Villa in the Premier League a few days after, but it was such a good feeling when we won it and celebrated with the travelling Kop.

In the semi-final we faced Watford and I started the game at Anfield in the first leg, but what many people didn't realise is I couldn't do myself justice because I was really suffering with pain in both my knees.

I remember taking an injection before the game to try to get through it because I could barely walk when I got to the ground.

Rafa took me off early into the second half and he said it wasn't good enough. I openly admitted to him and said, 'Gaffer, I'm injured, I'm really struggling and I need to get this sorted.'

But to have played for and represented Liverpool in two League Cup semi-finals, with the team going on to win one of them and to have played that part in helping us win the trophy, is special for me.

As Liverpool now prepare for Wednesday night's semi-final second leg at Fulham, it has been brilliant once again to see so many youngsters from the Academy getting their opportunities.

We have a manager in Jürgen Klopp who has brought in a real connection with the Academy. He believes in them and he's willing to give them that chance.

These young players know they might have that opportunity and then it's up to them to show the quality that they do have.

Our Academy director Alex Inglethorpe also deserves a lot of credit and he should be a proud man alongside his staff – like Barry Lewtas, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Mark Morris, Jay Spearing and Neil Edwards – for the work they have done with these players.

Caoimhin Kelleher played a major part in us winning the trophy against Chelsea at Wembley in 2022. You look at Jarell Quansah, he has been outstanding, he has the trust of the manager, his teammates, and I have been absolutely delighted for him.

I thought Conor Bradley was outstanding in the first leg of the semi-final. He is a young player that is highly thought of and I always enjoyed watching him when he played for our U21s.

He had that loan spell with Bolton Wanderers and excelled there and also matured as a player. Now he is learning alongside some of the best players in world football.

To be trusted by the manager shows he really has developed a great deal and it's good to see the progress he has made. Long may that continue.

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Another Academy graduate, Curtis Jones, played a big part in our comeback in that first leg. He scored the equaliser then played a great pass to Diogo Jota in the build-up for the winner.

Curtis is a talented player. He has really matured into an established player now. I think his work-rate is infectious and he is contributing with goals and assists.

Curtis is now a top senior player for somebody so young. I'm made up for him and believe there's a lot more top things to come from him in his Liverpool career.

As for the second leg itself, I feel Fulham are a better team at home than they are away. This is one of the biggest games in Fulham's recent history because they have never been as far as this in the competition.

With only a narrow advantage from the first leg, Fulham are still in the tie and they have the ability to cause us problems. We know we have to be at it to get to Wembley.

I do think Bernd Leno has kept Fulham in the tie because he made some brilliant saves in that second half and you also have to remember that we had 10 players missing in that first leg as well.

The mentality of this Liverpool squad is incredible. To be 1-0 down with so many regulars missing and then to turn that first leg around shows what this team is all about.

Liverpool know how to win trophies and the incentive is to win the first one of the season. A draw is good enough but I'm sure the players' only thoughts will be to go there and try to win this game.

I always remain confident because I believe the players are good enough to go there and get through.

Neil Mellor was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter