No pressure on us

MANAGER Sam Allardyce insists the pressure is all on Liverpool ahead of Rovers' visit to Anfield this weekend.

With Rafa Benitez's Reds desperately needing the three points to keep the heat on Manchester United in the race for the Premier League title, Big Sam believes most neutrals will be anticipating a Liverpool victory in Saturday's early kick-off.

However, the Rovers boss is adamant that could work to his team's advantage.

Buoyed by last week's dramatic late victory over Tottenham, Big Sam said: "We'll go to Liverpool with the sort of attitude of let's go and do it right, let's go and do our very best, and let's see what we what we can do.

"Nobody expects us to do anything so that takes the pressure of us really.

"Hopefully, we can express ourselves in the right way, use our abilities in the right way, and give Liverpool the type of game we gave Manchester United at Old Trafford, particularly in that second half."

Big Sam was an interested spectator at Anfield on Wednesday night when Liverpool suffered a damaging defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

But whilst he was encouraged by the way Chelsea performed in front of the Kop, the Rovers boss insists he learnt more from Stoke City's display at Anfield earlier in the season.

He added: "When you play at Anfield there has to be different tactics. You have to be tactically different than if you were at Ewood Park, even against Liverpool.

"Obviously I've seen some very good tactics by a couple of teams against them, notably Stoke earlier on in the season.

"We got a lot of reports on what they did to stop Liverpool, rather than watching Chelsea because, whilst I've got very good players, they aren't at the same level as Chelsea.

"We've got to go out and make sure we are going to be ready to run as long as we need to run, run as far as we need to run, and compete as long as we need to compete.

"Then, after that, we must try to get playing and use the possession that we get as best as we possibly can, and as effectively as we possibly can. We must try to get into Liverpool's final third and cause them a few problems."