Pepijn Lijnders' recent return to Jurgen Klopp's coaching staff is a huge boost for Liverpool's academy and the club's young prospects, according to U23s boss Neil Critchley.

Lijnders brought a three-and-a-half-year stint on Merseyside to an end in January when he left to take over NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch second tier.

The 35-year-old had been promoted from U16s boss to first-team development coach during his time at Anfield, with the latter role focused on helping youth players transition into the senior side.

When NEC failed to clinch promotion and Lijnders was sacked, Klopp moved swiftly to bring the Dutchman back to take on assistant manager duties alongside Peter Krawietz - a vacancy opened up by the shock departure of the manager's long-time ally Zeljko Buvac in April.

And Lijnders' return has now been hailed as great news for academy staff hoping to see more talents graduate to the first team after the recent success of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Critchley said: "For us as an academy, it's great that Pep is back because he's a big believer in youth and developing young players.

"He's obviously a good ally for us to talk to and speak to. I'm delighted that he's back in the first-team fold.

"We're very fortunate because we have good lines of communication, so we have access to [first-team] training and watch the training [and] obviously we can speak to Pep.

"Like yourselves, we observe the games and watch, but we're fortunate that we've got an 'in', so to speak, at Melwood with the first team.

"And that's really important because if we're going to give them players, we don't want them to fail when they have an audition.

"So, any training, if they go from a completely different style of play down here or types of training sessions and they go to Melwood and it's the first time they've ever been in a session they've never done before they could easily be like a fish up and tree and might only last a week.

"It's not exactly the same but we try and replicate some of the sessions and how the team plays because when they get up there we want it to be familiar to them."

Rhian Brewster is just one of the talented youngsters likely to feel the benefit of Lijnders' return to Anfield.

The teenager, a Golden Boot winner as England clinched the U17 World Cup last summer, ended months of speculation over his future by signing a new five-year contract with the club in July.

Critchley insists he never doubted that Brewster would commit his future to the Reds, and he suspects the striker is itching to get back training with the first team on a full-time basis after undergoing ankle surgery in January.

He added: "I was delighted. I always thought he would sign. I never thought there would be any danger of him leaving.

"I know how much he loves being at Liverpool. I know what the people and the club mean to him.

"I'm absolutely delighted that he's decided to stay and sees his future at the football club.

"He's got his injury issue at the moment but I'm sure he'll be doing a few people's heads down at Melwood, chomping at the bit and ready to return.

"He'll be quite restless. He's a young boy who loves playing football and wants to play football. He'll be hugely frustrated at the moment. [The contract] was a real pick-me-up for him and for us."

Liverpool U23s face Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Friday, August 17, with tickets priced at £3 for adults and £1 for children and available from the ticket office until 5pm on matchday.