Steven Gerrard has described criticism of Kenny Dalglish following Liverpool's defeat at Bolton as "absolutely ludicrous" and said he harbours no ill-feeling towards Roberto Mancini before Wednesday night's Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester City.

Liverpool go into the game with a 1-0 advantage courtesy of Gerrard's penalty but also on the back of their worst performance since Dalglish returned as manager 12 months ago. Saturday's 3-1 defeat at the Reebok prompted an uncharacteristic verbal attack on the team from the manager and questions have been asked of his ability to lead the club back into the Champions League after a run of six points from six league games.

An incredulous Gerrard said: "Change happens at football clubs year in and year out because everyone is desperate for success. Change happens all the time. But the few whispers about a change of manager after one defeat is ludicrous to me. It's absolutely ludicrous and I take no notice of that at all. The thing that needs to change is the people who are here need to try and not put in performances like the one against Bolton and get back to the way we've been 95% of the time under Kenny, which has been very good."

Liverpool's first leg with City, two weeks ago, ended with Gerrard confronting Mancini while the Italian was in the middle of a radio interview. The City manager claimed Glen Johnson should have been sent off for a two-footed challenge on Joleon Lescott and was accused of hypocrisy by the Liverpool captain, having previously condemned Wayne Rooney for calling for Vincent Kompany's dismissal against Manchester United in a Cup tie.

But Gerrard said: "It was more of a heated conversation. It wasn't an argument or a head-to-head duel or anything. I'd read his comments where he was criticising Wayne Rooney for waving cards and he was waving the cards at Glen Johnson. It wasn't an argument, I just thought I'd tell him that he was wrong.

"These things happen but I've got total respect for Mancini for what he achieved as a player and for the job he's doing at Man City. I'm not really interested in myself and Mancini. I'm just interested in getting a result. But there are certainly no hard feelings between me and him."

Despite Liverpool's lead and City's problems in attack, Gerrard admits the home side cannot risk a containment policy against the Premier League leaders. "That is the danger – going into the game thinking that we're 1-0 up and that we need to protect that lead. We need to start at 0-0 in our minds and go out to try and win the game. Against Bolton we probably had one player, Craig Bellamy, who could be satisfied with his performance. Against City we need 11, otherwise we won't be going to Wembley."

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Liverpool may hold the advantage going into the second leg of this Carling Cup semi-final, but their squad come into this match with a very different morale to that of opponents Manchester City following this weekend's results.

The Reds were truly abject in their defeat to Bolton, yet another match in which huge question marks were raised over the purchases manager Kenny Dalglish has made since returning to the club. His furious reaction to the performance of his players was pointed: "If that's the level they expect this football club to play at, they won't be here long," he said.

In contrast, Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side are on a high following their sensational injury-time win over Tottenham on Sunday that bore all the hallmarks of a side destined to win the title. But they still have it all to do in this tie given that they trail 1-0 after the first-leg and winning at Anfield is not something they are accustomed to.

It's been nine years since their last victory there and given how intimidating the Kop can be on a midweek cup night, and Liverpool's desperation to play at Wembley for the first time since 1996, means Mancini's men have it all do.

Head-to-head
This is the 165th meeting between the two clubs. Liverpool have won 81 times, Man City 42 and there have been 41 draws. Their first match was in 1893 with Liverpool winning 1-0 at Hyde Road, Manchester.
Before the first-leg, they had met three times before in the League Cup. City beat Liverpool 3-2 in the third round en route to winning the cup in 1970. They lost 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final of the 1980-81 season, with Liverpool winning the first leg 1-0 at Maine Road and the Reds went on to lift the Cup. And in the 1995-96 season, Liverpool hammered City 4-0 in the third round.

Liverpool
Liverpool are the most successful club in League Cup history having won it seven times. They have also been runners up on three occasions. This is Liverpool's first home match in this season's Carling Cup, having won all five previous ties on the road. They are participating in their 14th semi-final. Of the previous 13, 10 were won, including the last three. The 2-0 away defeat to Chelsea in the 2007 quarter-finals is the only time they have failed to score in 43 League Cup outings. Liverpool have been beaten only once in 23 games at Anfield since Kenny Dalglish's return as manager a year ago.

Manchester City
Manchester City won the League Cup in 1970 and 1976. On the most recent of those finals, City trailed 1-0 to Middlesbrough after the first leg of the semi-final, played on Teesside. They won the tie 4-1 on aggregate, and went on to beat Newcastle in the final. This is the fourth time they have taken a deficit into the second leg of a semi-final, and on two of the previous three they were unable to overturn it. The 1-0 defeat in the opening leg, was the first time City had failed to score in 12 League Cup matches, since Tottenham's 2-0 victory in the fifth round in December 2007.

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LIVERPOOL FC'S bid to secure Champions League football next season took a major blow as an inept display saw them comfortably beaten, 3-1 by relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers.

Goals from Mark Davies, Nigel Reo-Coker and Gretar Steinsson did the damage for Owen Coyle's strugglers, who were full value for their victory. Indeed, Liverpool FC could head back for Merseyside grateful that the margin of defeat was not greater. A first-half strike from Craig Bellamy, by far the Reds' best player on the day, was the only bright spot on a gloomy afternoon for Kenny Dalglish's men.

Dalglish raged afterwards that his players had not treated this game with the respect it deserved, suggesting their approach to the fixture had lacked professionalism, and accusing his men of being “disrespectful” to the club.

They were strong words, but it is no surprise to see the Scot so angered. With Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final second leg showdown against Manchester City looming, and followed swiftly by a powderkeg FA Cup date with Manchester United, this was the worst possible preparation.

Having watched Chelsea drop points at Norwich earlier in the day, and then seen Newcastle suffer a shellacking at Fulham, the chance was there for Liverpool to make inroads into the six-point deficit which exists between themselves and that coveted fourth spot.

They failed. Starting slackly, Liverpool FC were two down inside half an hour, with Davies and Reo-Coker both given the freedom of the Reebok to punish alarmingly hesitant defending.

And though Bellamy, the visitors' only threat throughout, pulled one back before the break, more defensive uncertainty allowed Steinsson to wrap up the game early in the second period. Liverpool rarely looked like mounting a comeback.

Dalglish's team selection, questioned after last weekend's pallid goalless draw with Stoke City at Anfield, paid little respect to this week's looming cup clashes.

Gone was the three-man defence which had caused such consternation a week ago, while Dalglish gave recalls to both Bellamy and Andy Carroll in attack, and Daniel Agger in defence. Steven Gerrard, still working his way back to optimum match-fitness, continued in midfield, alongside Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam.

Coyle admitted afterwards that Bolton had been fired up as they watched results drop them to the foot of the table earlier in the day, and it showed as they tore into their vaunted visitors from the word go.

Former Liverpool forward David Ngog, given a generous reception by the travelling support, led the line for the home side, and within four minutes he had laid on the game's opening goal.

His neat touch allowed Mark Davies to break beyond a flat-footed Martin Skrtel, and the Bolton midfielder kept his calm to steer a left-footed shot into Pepe Reina's bottom left hand corner from 16 yards.

It was a sluggish start from Liverpool, and they were almost further behind soon after as Chris Eagles got the better of a hesitant Jose Enrique down the right, and surged into the area. His finish from a tight angle, however, lacked conviction as it flashed across the face of goal.

It took nearly 20 minutes for Liverpool to muster an effort on goal, with Henderson's 25-yard strike easily gathered by Adam Bogdan in the Wanderers goal.

But with passes wayward – Adam in particular had a nightmare first-half – it was difficult for Dalglish's men to gain any kind of foothold in proceedings, and just before the half-hour mark, their slackness was punished further.

The livewire Eagles exchanged passes with Ngog on the right before clipping a deft pass into home skipper Nigel Reo-Coker, who took the ball on his chest before slipping it past an exposed Reina from close range, as four Liverpool defenders stood still.

That Reo-Coker is nominally Bolton's holding midfielder, a destroyer rather than a creator, spoke volumes for the space which was afforded by Liverpool in central areas.

The goal did, at least, prompt a brief response from the visitors. As Reina punted the ball long, Carroll outjumped David Wheater to release Bellamy with a flicked header, and the Welshman raced clear to slip the ball past Bogdan and give Liverpool a lifeline they barely merited.

And with Dalglish certain to have issued a stinging half-time appraisal, the stage looked set for a second-half revival.

Not so. Having seen Adam waste a presentable chance immediately after the restart, Liverpool were put out of their misery in the 50th minute.

Martin Petrov swung in a corner from the left, David Wheater climbed above the flagging Skrtel at the back post, and Gretar Steinsson applied to finishing touch with a well-controlled volley into the bottom right-hand corner of Reina's net.

It removed what little fight Liverpool still had left, and in truth it was Bolton who looked the more likely to add to the scoreline.

The impressive Davies, assisted ably by Reo-Coker and Fabrice Muamba, bossed the midfield area, while Ngog's strength and movement gave Skrtel a torrid time.

Eagles, arguably the game's best player, had three late chances to net a fourth, while Carroll's mis-kick from substitute Stewart Downing's pull-back summed up Liverpool's day in a nutshell.

Dalglish would have faced a selection dilemma ahead of Wednesday in any case, but having admitted that some players “will not be wearing a red shirt much longer if they carry on like that”, it will be interesting to see how many changes he makes for Manchester City's visit to Anfield.

Because with their Champions League charge running worryingly off course since the turn of the year, it could well be cup competitions which come to define Liverpool's season.

BOLTON (4-5-1): Bogdan, Steinsson, Knight, Wheater, Ricketts, Eagles (Tuncay 90), M Davies, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Ngog (K Davies 88)Substitutes: Lynch, Riley, O'Halloran, Boyata, Pratley

Goals: M Davies (4), Reo-Coker (29), Steinsson (50)

LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Adam (Downing 64), Gerrard, Maxi (Kuyt 64), Henderson, Bellamy, Carroll Substitutes: Doni, Carragher, Coates, Kelly, Shelvey

Booked: Jose Enrique, Kuyt

Goals: Bellamy (36)

Referee: Kevin Friend

Attendance: 26,854

STAR MAN – CRAIG BELLAMY: Only he and Pepe Reina can emerge from this game with their heads held high. His running never ceased, and his quality put several of his team-mates to shame.

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Kenny Dalglish has defended Stewart Downing, describing him as a better player than he envisaged when paying £20m to sign the England international from Aston Villa, despite the winger's subdued start to his Liverpool career.

Downing has yet to score or create one league goal for Liverpool since his big money move from the Midlands, although he did register his first goal for the club in the FA Cup third-round win over Oldham Athletic, and growing criticism of the 27-year-old's performances has prompted Dalglish to defend his summer signing. The Liverpool manager, who has been offered the Serbian striker Milos Krasic by Juventus, believes Downing is still adjusting to life at a higher-profile club and that it has been unfair to play the former Middlesbrough winger in several positions during his debut season at Anfield.

"Stewart is a better player than I thought he was going to be," the Liverpool manager claimed. "I don't think it has been too comfortable for him either because we have played him in three or four positions, so maybe we need to look at ourselves and say we have to be fair to him as well. He is better than what I thought he was. He is quicker than what I thought he was and he is quicker than Carra [Jamie Carragher] thought he was as well."

Downing was replaced by Andy Carroll during Liverpool's dour goalless draw against Stoke City last weekend as Dalglish persisted with three central defenders against Peter Crouch and withdrew a supply line to the £35m forward. The pair have started only 11 games together for Liverpool this season. Dalglish added: "You have to be patient with every new player who comes in. You have to be patient with the older ones at times as well, like we did with Stevie [Gerrard] coming back. Patience is important but the most important thing is having the ability to play and everyone in our squad has the ability to play."

The woodwork has denied Downing a first league goal for Liverpool on four occasions this season while poor finishing from team-mates also accounts for his lack of assists. Dalglish does admit the £20m midfielder has still to adapt to the transition from Villa Park to Anfield.

"Stewart is a fantastic footballer," he added. "He is an England international, he made a big move in the summer to come here, as a few of them did, and with all due respect to the other clubs that he's been at, it is a massive club. He is going to need a little bit of time to get used to his new surroundings, which is only natural. He's put more crosses in than anybody else according to the stats and it is part of his job to put crosses in. It is another part of his job to put them in somewhere where we are going to score goals and it is another job for the team to get in there and put them in the back of the net."

Liverpool face Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok on Saturday evening and Dalglish has questioned the wisdom of Bolton's decision to sell Gary Cahill for £7m to Chelsea as they fight to stay in the Premier League. The Liverpool manager said: "It has been difficult for Owen Coyle and Bolton this year but I am sure they will buckle down and get themselves out of the mire. Although financially it might have been a good deal for Gary Cahill, I don't know whether it was the best one as a football decision for Owen, unless he has got someone lined up to replace him."

By the same token Dalglish does accept that Cahill's contractual position, with only six months remaining on his deal at the Reebok before he moved to Stamford Bridge, left Bolton in an unenviable situation. He added: "It is pretty obvious that the players are the ones with the strength nowadays, far more so than the clubs, but then there was a long time when the clubs had all the strength. I think it would be better for everyone if it was shared out more evenly.

"Everybody knows what the position is though if a player is running out of contract and if you cannot afford to keep them, you cannot afford to keep them. I think you would be more in the wrong if you tried to keep a player who you couldn't afford. A football club does not belong to any one individual, it is for the people and the community and no one wants to see it go to the wall. If you dig your heels in and don't allow a player to leave until his contract is up then, for me, I don't think that's the right approach."

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The five-time European champions will receive £150m over six years from Boston-based Warrior following the agreement, which sees Liverpool stand second only to Barcelona - who have a £26.3m deal with Nike - in the lucrative kit sponsorship market. Liverpool have ended a relationship with German sportswear giant Adidas stretching back to 1985 by linking up with Warrior.

And Ayre has hit back at claims by Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer that Liverpool’s absence from European competition has diminished the club’s appeal by pointing to the size of the Warrior deal as proof of the Anfield outfit’s global popularity.

Ayre said: “We are disappointed that Adidas seem to point to a lack of European football as reason not to agree a new deal and cannot see that we are on par with the biggest football brands in the world.”Although Manchester United are expected to secure a world record £600m-plus kit deal before their current £23.5m agreement with Nike expires in 2015, Liverpool’s success in clinching such a lucrative deal with Warrior highlights the untapped commercial value of the Merseyside club, whose earnings from Adidas were just £12m-a-year.

Liverpool’s new deal outstrips Bayern Munich’s £22m-a-year package with Bayern Munich, while Arsenal, who have the third most lucrative deal in the Premier League, trail behind with a £13m deal with Nike.
Ayre added: “This is another landmark deal for Liverpool and once again shows the value of the club’s brand globally.

“Warrior Sports will bring its own unique brand and ideas to the partnership, ensuring that they can assist us at the Club both on and off the field of play. “I believe that Warrior have some outstanding people we can work closely with to continue to deliver quality products to our fans around the world.”Liverpool’s deal with Warrior will begin with the release of their home, away and third kit in June.

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LIVERPOOL FC have expressed their dismay after comments from a high ranking official at sportswear giant Adidas claimed the club priced themselves out of a new kit deal. The contract as the Reds’ supplier expires at the end of this season and despite holding talks over extending the partnership with Adidas, Liverpool FC are understood to have reached an agreement with American brand Warrior Sports instead.

Reported to have been struck in April last year, and said to be worth £25m a year – trumping Manchester United’s contract with Nike which ploughs a reported £23.5m into the coffers at Old Trafford ever 12 months – the Reds’ move to Warrior Sports doubles their current income from a kit deal. Sales of the Liverpool’s replica shirts are believed to reach nearly 900,000 a year, making it the fourth highest selling kit in the world behind United, Barcelona and Real Madrid with the Reds having earned around £12m per annum from Adidas.

With the end of their six-year deal with the German brand drawing near, Liverpool opened the bidding process to find a fresh supplier and though Adidas had wanted to remain in place as the club’s choice, they withdrew from negotiations.

Chief executive Herbert Hainer says Liverpool’s performance on the pitch, playing without European football for the first time in 12 seasons, meant the club’s valuation of themselves was inflated. But the club have hit back at the timing of the comments and, they say, that Adidas were unable to realise the Reds’ global appeal, regardless of qualification for European competition or not. “The gap between their performance on the field and what the number should be is not in balance,” said Herbert Hainer, Adidas’ chief executive officer. “Then we said, ‘OK we will not do it’. That’s the end of the story.

“It all depends on the success and the effort and the popularity, the exposure on TV, revenue you can generate by merchandising. “This all has to be brought in line between what you offer and what you get. We thought that what Liverpool were asking and what they were delivering was not in the right balance.”

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That means the alternative, futuristic stadium designs proposed by former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jnr have been ditched for good. It also ensures there will be no fresh planning application required by the current American owners to restart construction once a lucrative naming rights package is in place.

Fenway Sports Group has been working with Manchester-based architects AFL, the firm which first submitted designs when Liverpool announced their intention to move to Stanley Park as far back as 2000. It is these proposals, which were put forward for planning permission in 2003 and given the green light a year later, which will become the blueprint for a new 60,000-seat stadium costing around £300 million. The club must still find the finance to kick-start the scheme, and there is no immediate prospect of work beginning, but AFL’s return to preferred status is another significant twist in the seemingly never-ending saga of Liverpool’s ground move.

The AFL plans were first introduced by former chief executive Rick Parry but were abandoned by Hicks and Gillett shortly after their ill-fated takeover in 2006. Hicks scrapped the original designs in favour of those he commissioned from a Dallas-based architecture firm, HKS.

The £400 million costs of the second scheme effectively triggered the beginning of the end of the old regime, as Hicks and Gillett could not raise the funds to build it. It also led to the first major split of the old boardroom, as the plan were seen as too expensive and impractical. Now Hicks’ grand scheme has been permanently shelved with FSG deciding it will modernise and upgrade the first set of designs.

Since buying the club, John W Henry has worked through a variety of options to establish how to solve Liverpool’s enduring stadium problem.Henry originally wanted to redevelop Anfield, but after a year of toil working through the planning issues, and the cost of buying nearby residential properties, it was accepted this was not feasible. FSG has also explored whether to commission new stadium plans, but the time and cost restraint also made that a non-starter.  Liverpool have planning permission for two designs.

If the club submitted a third to Liverpool City Council, it could delay the process by another three years and there could be no guarantee they would be passed, especially given a political fervour to maintain a dialogue with Everton on the controversial issue of a groundshare.  It would be an incredibly risky strategy for FSG to start from scratch. Liverpool still need to raise around £150 million in sponsorship — around half the costs – before they can start building any arena, but having decided which course to take there will be fewer obstacles in their way if a naming rights package can be secured in the near future. That in itself remains a difficulty given economic conditions.

The single, desirable legacy of the Hicks and Gillett era was the fact they actually began preparatory work on Stanley Park prior to having to bring it to a halt when they failed to secure investment. That means technically, and legally, construction of a stadium is considered to have already started by the council. This has enabled the new owners to avoid missing out on any deadlines to complete a project.
Liverpool City Council is also eager for the club to make progress as soon as possible, so have not issued time constraints.

Some Liverpool fans may be worried that plans nearly 10 years old, which were publicly criticised by Hicks as being ‘out of date’ five years ago, are being given a facelift. However, Liverpool believe Hicks’s criticism was always unwarranted and the AFL plans — inspired in part by the Millennium Stadium in Wales — were also impressive. Although the club are limited in terms of altering how the arena will look, its size and the space it will fill from the accepted designs, there is still plenty of capacity to upgrade the interiors to modern standards. Any suggestion the nine-year-old architects’ plan is out of date will be dismissed by the owners, who recognise AFL’s vast portfolio in stadium design. The firm is responsible for recent upgrades at Old Trafford and the Nou Camp, and built the Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton training complexes.

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Kenny Dalglish bemoaned Liverpool's inability to part a resolute Stoke City defence and then scurried for the exit only to find himself unable to open the door of the press room. Blocked on all fronts, there was also no escaping the unpalatable truth that Liverpool's latest frustration on the home front was entirely self-inflicted.

Stoke City became the seventh visiting team to leave Anfield with a point this season and no inspired goalkeeping or catalogue of missed chances excused Liverpool on this occasion. For the first time since his well-documented suspension began Luis Suárez was sorely missed, and his absence was savoured by a rival manager.

"I was absolutely delighted not to see him on the pitch," said Tony Pulis, who suffered when Suárez separated the teams in the Carling Cup in October. "I couldn't have picked a better player for us not to play against. Suárez is a fantastic player." But the latest draw at Anfield was not due to the suspended Uruguayan, either.

From the moment the team-sheets arrived it was clear there was to be no feast of entertainment in Pulis's 400th game as Stoke manager, and unclear as to where in the Liverpool lineup the goals would come from. Dirk Kuyt, without a league goal all season, led the attack in preference to Andy Carroll against Stoke's towering defenders but it was Dalglish's decision to persist with the defensive tactics that sealed the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg win against Manchester City last Wednesday that determined a damaging afternoon for a team with aspirations to qualify for the Champions League.

Dalglish deploying a three-man central defence is nothing new; he first used it during his debut season as Liverpool manager 27 years ago and the overall formation was a replica of what delivered victory over Stoke at Anfield last season. On this occasion it was rendered redundant before the teams left the changing rooms and could have been altered without curbing the marauding instincts of Glen Johnson and José Enrique on the flanks. But Dalglish, unlike Pulis, was not for turning.

The Stoke manager took one look at Liverpool's team-sheet and promptly moved Jon Walters out of his attack and into a five-man midfield. Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher and Sebastián Coates were reduced to marking one man at a stroke and it was immediately apparent that Peter Crouch would be working alone. Liverpool, at home, were set up to contain Stoke. Stoke set out to contain Liverpool.

The end result was a lot of containment. When the alterations finally came it was Carroll at the expense of Stewart Downing, and Craig Bellamy for another £20m summer signing who failed to impose himself, Jordan Henderson. Anfield's frustrations were audible before the procession of late cries for a penalty.

"I thought the way we set up and the way we defended made it very difficult for them," said Walters. "It was basically Peter on his own and me and Matty [Etherington] in midfield, ending up at left-back and right-back. I wasn't surprised they played three at the back because they did it last year. I thought the boys at the back defended very well and kept them to shots from distance in the first half. We would take that all day. They never really got in behind or had a one-on-one with Thomas [Sorensen]."

Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers have scored more league goals than a club who spent £57.8m replenishing their attack 12 months ago and a further £47m to improve the supply in the summer with Downing, Henderson and Charlie Adam, all of whom were too quick to pass responsibility on to Steven Gerrard on Saturday, even if that meant another backwards pass into a harmless area.

Kuyt headed Liverpool's one clear-cut chance horribly wide, Skrtel sent another into the floor and over while Carroll, when not falling over in his slippers, had one decent shout for a spot-kick refused by the referee Howard Webb as he ran on to the pitch and straight into a Robert Huth headlock. Further penalty appeals, as Pulis put it, "were out of desperation". Even Dalglish admitted that "we got away with a couple as well" and went no further with his criticism than to say: "Howard Webb's a top-class referee? That's some people's opinion."

Carragher said: "Stoke are a tough nut to crack and unfortunately we couldn't break them down. It's been a problem a few times at Anfield. We need to sort that out before the end of the season if we want to get to where we want to be, which is obviously the top four."

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is to stay at Anfield after signing a contract extension with the English Premier League club. Local hero Gerrard, 31, has been a one-club man throughout his career and the England midfielder told liverpoolfc.tv on Thursday: "I'm very happy. It's a very proud day for myself and my family."

The deal, the terms of which have not been made public, was announced less than a day after Gerrard scored the only goal in the Reds' League Cup semi-final first-leg win at Manchester City. "It comes on the back of a fantastic team performance last night when we got the result we were looking for," Gerrard added. "The contract extension coming the day after has been the icing on the cake so it has been a perfect 24 hours."

His latest goal means Gerrard has scored in two of his three appearances since the new year as he looks to put a difficult 2011, when he was sidelined with groin and ankle problems, behind him. "This is the club I love and is the club I have supported since I was a young boy," Gerrard said. "I am living the dream as the captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world. "I love coming to work every day and the experiences I have had since I was eight years of age and first signed for the club, I wouldn't change them for the world. "To extend that and to hopefully have some more good times in a red shirt is what I want."His latest deal means Gerrard is set to finish his playing career at Liverpool, having joined the Merseysiders as a schoolboy.

But the Reds are already planning for the time when he does retire, having offered him an ambassadorial role similar to the one occupied by Kenny Dalglish before he was recalled for his second spell as Liverpool manager. A delighted Dalglish said: "For us, for Steven and for everybody connected with the football club, it's fantastic news. "We're delighted for him and are looking forward to him getting back to full fitness and working hard for us and with us.""He's been a fantastic servant to the football club."

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Roberto Mancini just last week guided his team to a 3-0 Premier League win over that of Kenny Dalglish in what was the first instalment of a January trilogy of games.

The pair will face-off again on 25th January for the second leg at Anfield and it was only City's defeat by Manchester United which prevented a fourth match of the season in the FA Cup later this month.

Premier League leaders City go into the semi-final as favourites and no doubt determined to respond to the dramatic 3-2 loss to United at the weekend, when they played the majority of the match with 10 men to actually come out with immense pride.

Liverpool, though, have treated the Carling Cup with comparative seriousness this season and Dalglish clearly views the competition as an ideal opportunity to rid his club of an almost six-year trophyless monkey on their back.

Stretched
The Reds will also be focused on offering a reaction to the miserable league loss at City, when they delivered one of their least impressive performances of the campaign and were beaten by goals from Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and a James Milner penalty.

Liverpool will also be boosted by facing what will be a weakened City team missing captain Vincent Kompany through suspension, following his red card against United, and both Toure brothers due to the African Cup of Nations.

Indeed Mancini has been bemoaning the fixture congestion and claiming his squad is stretched to its limits, despite still being able to cast off the likes of Carlos Tevez and Wayne Bridge.
City will be without captain Kompany after a failed appeal to the Football Association regarding the four-match ban for his red card against United.

The absence of Kolo Toure therefore comes as a blow and either Stefan Savic or Pablo Zabaleta will likely have to play at centre-back.

Strong
Yaya Toure is also away on international duty, while there are injury concerns over David Silva (ankle), Edin Dzeko (knee) and Mario Balotelli (ankle).

Midfielder Gareth Barry returns from suspension after being sent off for two bookable offences in the Premier League win over Liverpool.

Dalglish is likely to revert to his strongest possible line-up, but will, of course, still be missing Luis Suarez, as the Uruguayan serves the fourth game of his eight-match suspension.

Skipper Steven Gerrard is in line to start having played 90 minutes in the FA Cup win over Oldham on Friday.

Former City striker Craig Bellamy could also be in contention for a place in the first XI having only been a substitute in the league.

Dalglish also has to decide whether to recall Andy Carroll, who scored as a late substitute against Oldham, amid reports Liverpool could be prepared to sell the £35million striker.

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