Cameron Brannagan believes Liverpool can come away with pleased with their performance despite the disappointment of a youthful side drawing 2-2 with Exeter City in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday night to set up a replay.

Brannagan was part of a fully-changed starting eleven, nine of which had made only four first-team appearances or less for the Reds as Jürgen Klopp gave out three debuts - as well as a fourth and fifth for substitutes Sheyi Ojo and Joe Maguire off the bench - after being hamstrung by a spate of injuries to his first-team.

It didn't start too well for Klopp's youngsters, as Tom Nichols opened the scoring with a smart finish after just nine minutes. Liverpool bounced back through Jerome Sinclair as the striker pounced on a loose ball in the area to find the bottom corner and restore parity.

But the Grecians scored again to go into the break with the advantage, Lee Holmes getting the better of second-choice goalkeeper Adam Bogdan with a corner that directly found the back of the net in first-half stoppage-time.

But an inexperienced Liverpool side weathered plenty of pressure from the hosts before stirring to level a second time as Brad Smith capitalised upon a failed clearance from Ojo's cross inside the six-yard box to schedule a replay with Exeter at Anfield later this month.

Brannagan pleased with response of youthful side

Brannagan, reflecting on the response from the visitors, told Liverpoolfc.com that it was "disappointing" to "go into the break 2-1 down" but explained that the half-time team talk, in which Klopp told them to "dig in and keep doing what we're doing and play our football", according to the midfielder, inspired them to improve after the break as he described that they "came out in the second-half and we did that."

The 19-year-old insisted he was "happy" to see teammates Smith and Sinclair get on the scoresheet as he called it a "great experience" for Liverpool's younger players and added that he hopes they can "do the job" next time out. He added that they benefitted from the whole team "knowing each other well" after being "all together in the Under-21s."

Brannagan said that it was "all about experience and enjoying the moment" on the night, revealing that Klopp told them beforehand to "go out there and show what you can do" and not to worry "if you make a mistake", only to "enjoy it."

Young Reds looking to break into first-team picture

On the difficult conditions at St James' Park, the teenager said that he believes the pitch didn't bother them and "was fine at times" despite acknowledging that "it got a bit bad towards the end." However, he said the Reds "dug through it" and none of them "made it an excuse" and instead just "carried on playing, like we do."

With such a busy schedule ahead, Klopp hinted that - should he still be struggling with injuries - he will field a similar team in the replay and Brannagan insisted that the young prospects in the Liverpool team will be relishing a chance to prove themselves again.

The teenager, captain of the U21s, said that they are "there every day training with the manager" and explained that the aim of all the players "is to hopefully push on and work our way into the first-team."  

He stated that it is "obviously a disappointing time to see some great players injured" but said it is also an opportunity for players to stake their claim for a first-team berth, insisting that they have to "take our chance when it comes and carry on with what we're doing."

With the stalemate setting up another fixture for Klopp's side, Brannagan admitted they were "disappointed to draw" because they were "hoping that we could get the win" but also said it was "great for us youngsters because that'll hopefully give us a chance to play again" which he said the players are "made up" about and "looking forward to."

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.