Final push - Kenny: Stars are playing for Wembley spots

Posted Tuesday, May 01, 2012 by The Sun

Final push - Kenny: Stars are playing for Wembley spots
MULLING IT OVER ... Kenny Dalglish

KENNY DALGLISH sends his troops into pre-Wembley battle tonight, warning: Go out half-cocked and you will end up getting crocked.

Liverpool face a Fulham side who have never won at Anfield in 30 previous visits in all competitions.

Yet Dalglish knows there is a danger some of his reborn Reds may have Saturday’s FA Cup final on their minds as they chase back-to-back league wins for the first time this calendar year.

But even though the Kop boss will rest some of his big guns ahead of the Chelsea showdown — Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard in particular — he is equally aware that any holding back could backfire dramatically.

Dalglish insisted: “The more careful you are, the better chance you have of getting injured. The most important thing is to be yourself and play as you always do, that’s common sense.

“Obviously the final is the game after this but we will be picking a team we think is capable of beating Fulham first and foremost.

“We have 20-odd players, all of whom we would have no hesitation in putting out on the pitch. Whatever is most beneficial to make them fit and available for the weekend, we will do.

“Players can get injured in training just as easily as they can in a match. But we’ll do what is best for everybody, not just Stevie and Luis.

“The first priority, though, is to win. It’s a big match for Liverpool, irrespective of who plays. That is the way we have looked at it.”

Dalglish has first-hand experience of how things can go wrong in the build-up to Wembley, from a double scare before the final against Wimbledon 24 years ago.

Five days before that 1988 showdown with the Dons, Liverpool team-mates Nigel Spackman and Gary Gillespie clashed heads in a 1-1 draw against Luton.

Both men subsequently played with bandages — and Wimbledon pulled off one of THE great shocks when Lawrie Sanchez outjumped everyone to nod in the winner.

Dalglish added: “That could have happened at any time. One of them never called for the ball and two of them went for it. You must be yourself and play as normal.”

Andy Carroll is fit again after a slight groin problem kept him out of the Suarez-inspired weekend win at Norwich, yet could be left on the bench this evening.

Fellow striker Craig Bellamy, who suffered a dead leg at Carrow Road, has also recovered.

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Flanagan, Carragher, Coates, Enrique, Maxi, Spearing, Henderson, Bellamy, Shelvey, Kuyt.

FULHAM: Schwarzer, Baird, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise, Duff, Diarra, Murphy, Dempsey, Dembele, Pogrebnyak.