ABLETT DELIGHTED WITH NGOG
Steve Hunter 21 January 2009
Gary Ablett was full of praise for David Ngog after the French striker scored twice to help Liverpool Reserves to a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.
Both of his goals were made by superb through balls from Daniel Pacheco and Ngog was clinical as Ablett's side returned to winning ways in their first game of 2009.
"We know David can score goals as we see that every day in training and we are trying to build up his confidence," said Ablett.
"Hopefully he can go on and get more goals now.
"We've trained quite well since we gave the boys a break over Christmas and told them to go away and think about what they wanted to achieve here. They have come back and shown a great attitude.
"It was a difficult game and I thought Middlesbrough played very well but we got more control of the game in the second half, scored two good goals and deserved the victory.
"Their goalkeeper played well and made some good saves. We could have been a bit more clinical at times but it was nice to see us create those chances and play some good football."
Ablett also reserved credit for Jay Spearing who played at centre half because the likes of Martin Kelly, Daniel Ayala and Ronald Huth were all unavailable because of injury and international duty.
"We opted to play Jay at the back because he reads the game very well, is a great competitor and can spot a pass," he said.
"I'm hoping we don't have to use him there many more times in the future because he's an attacking central midfield player and an important player for us, but he did a good job for the team."
Brazilian striker Vitor Flora finally made his bow for the second string after receiving international clearance when he came on as a 77th minute substitute for Pacheco.
Recent signing, Icelandic youngster Victor Palsson was an unused substitute.
"The clearance came through for Vitor last week so it was nice to give him some minutes on the field," said Ablett.
"Victor hasn't trained for seven weeks but we were short of numbers so he was on the bench in case we needed to use him. He will feature more for us in the future."
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N162931090121-0927.htm