Plymouth Argyle vs Liverpool - Purrington expects Plymouth to give Liverpool rough ride

Posted Wednesday, January 18, 2017 by PA

Ben Purrington insists Plymouth believe they can get a result when they take on Liverpool in their FA Cup third-round replay.

Pilgrims boss Derek Adams saw his Sky Bet League Two high-flyers hold the seven-time winners to a goalless stalemate at Anfield in the original tie.

The pair meet again on Wednesday to settle the contest, with the winner at Home Park going on to face a home tie against Wolves in round four.

Jurgen Klopp elected to field Liverpool's youngest ever starting line-up for the initial clash and they were unable to see off Plymouth, who sit second in the fourth tier.

It remains to be seen what kind of side the German will name for the replay, but Purrington feels home advantage could help the hosts spring a shock.

"We went there for a result, to either get the win or the replay," the full-back told Plymouth's official website.

"I think playing here, with the crowd behind us, we believe in ourselves and we can go out and try and get a result.

"It was an unbelievable experience to see 55,000 there. It was nerve racking at the start with everyone singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

"It was a bit surreal at first - you obviously see them (Liverpool's players) on TV and video games all the time."

Plymouth will be without striker David Goodwillie for the game, along with defender Gary Miller and midfielders Connor Smith, Ryan Donaldson and David Ijaha.

Liverpool remain frustrated in their hopes of gaining greater clarity over the availability of Joel Matip.

Manager Jurgen Klopp was forced to pull the defender out of Sunday's game at Manchester United because of a dispute with Cameroon over his international status.

Matip was named in Cameroon's squad for the ongoing African Nations Cup in Gabon despite it being widely understood that he had retired from international football.

The Cameroonian Football Federation had a right to do this under FIFA rules and, with the player having not reported for duty, he could consequently be suspended from club football for the duration of the tournament.

Asked about the matter at a press conference ahead of the cup clash with Plymouth, Klopp said: "There are not a lot of times in my life when I have been in a situation like this, not even a similar situation.

"I don't want to blame anybody but I think our supporters deserve to know about the process we are in.

"In this moment, we are sure we did nothing wrong. We are sure Joel Matip did nothing wrong. He didn't play for Cameroon since 2015. Since he has been here he has not been a Cameroon national player.

"In this moment he is not in the squad of Cameroon, so he cannot play for them, but in this moment we have not a 100 per cent guarantee he could play for us. That is the situation.

"I would consider lining him up tomorrow but I don't know if I can. From the sports side it would make sense - perfect game for him, but I am not sure if I can."

Loris Karius is set to return in goal in place of Simon Mignolet for the Reds.

Defender Nathaniel Clyne (rib) and midfielder Lucas (knee) are making good progress but the game will probably come too soon.