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Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke returned to Melwood with a ringing endorsement from under-23s boss Neil Critchley.

Jurgen Klopp requested that the 20-year-old frontman dropped down to play the full 90 minutes for the second string in Monday night's 3-1 mini derby win over Everton at Southport.

Solanke, who came off the bench in the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City, opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Critchley was impressed with his all-round contribution.

"I was really pleased with Dominic," he told the ECHO.

"The reason for giving him 90 minutes is that he could be involved in some really big games for the first team between now and the end of the season. He needs to have rhythm and he needs to be match fit.

"I thought he led the line really well - he held the ball up and he flicked it on well. He showed his calmness to take the penalty and was a bit unlucky with the one that was cleared off the line. Hopefully he will benefit from this game."

It's been a breakthrough season for Solanke since his free transfer from Chelsea last summer. He has clocked up 24 senior appearances for the Reds, but 19 have been as a sub and he has yet to open his account.

He also made his full England debut against Brazil at Wembley in November and is likely to be in the squad for next week's Champions League semi-final first leg with Roma.

Another first-team squad player on duty for the under-23s against Everton was Danny Ward. The Wales international, who has had to settle for being Liverpool's third choice keeper this term, pulled off a couple of fine saves to deny the Blues.

(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"I don't have the pleasure of working with Danny every day but I've got such admiration for him," Critchley said.

"His professionalism and his attitude when he comes down to play for us is fantastic. You see the influence he has on the players and the way he conducts himself is outstanding.

"Whenever he's been down for us, he has played like that and I expect nothing else from him because of the type of character he is. He's a top class goalkeeper."

Critchley was less impressed with Liverpool Under-23s' team performance against the Blues - despite them securing a victory which keeps the Premier 2 title race alive.

The Reds moved up to second and within two points of leaders Arsenal with one game to go.

If the Gunners slip up against West Ham on Friday night then Liverpool would win the title by beating Chelsea at home.

"It would be nice if West Ham could do us a favour. It would set it up nicely for our final game against Chelsea," Critchley added.

"You want to see the boys play in games that really mean something under pressure. It would be great if the league title was riding on that game.

"Chelsea are in the UEFA Youth League semis this week so we're trying to sort out a date. We're hoping that it will be played at Anfield.

"With us still in the Champions League and fighting for the top four, finding a date at Anfield could prove difficult but we'll see. The first team rightly has to take priority.

"I think we deserved to take it down to the last game of the season. Maybe not on the performance against Everton, but over the course of the season. That was our objective and we hadn't won for a while so it was nice to have that feeling.

(Image: Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"I thought 3-1 flattered us a bit. We didn't start well. We were fortunate to be 2-0 up at half-time.

"The message at half-time was that if he showed the same mentality and attitude in the second half then the game could quickly change.

"We were better in the second half, we had a bit more control and the third goal was decisive. But we didn't manage the game well enough towards the end. We played quite young, we looked young and played young."

There were six bookings during a fiercely contested derby but Critchley didn't have any complaints.

"You want it to be like that," he said.

"An accusation always thrown at the under-23s league is that it's too nice. We won't moan when it's competitive like that because that's how we want it to be.

"We just have to make sure we don't react and do something silly. I thought we got embroiled in situations in the second half that we didn't need to get involved in. We showed out naivety there."

The decision was taken to bring Corey Whelan back from his loan spell at Yeovil to play against Everton but he has since returned to the League Two outfit.