ACADEMY AWARDS

'I knew Kop kids were up to the task but with so many injuries, we had no choice anyway!

ANDY ROBERTSON has the key to Class of '24 walking tall at Wembley they aren't allowed to get too big for their boots in the Boot Room.

revealed Liverpool's Where academy graduates at other clubs develop a swagger beyond their years, the Kop Kids have remained grounded.

And as Robertson celebrated a seventh major trophy in his Anfield career, the Scotland captain paid tribute to the youngsters who brought home the Carabao Cup and admitted: "It wasn't a risk playing them we had no choice.

At the team's pre-match meal before Sunday's dramatic humbling of Chelsea's designer labels from Billionaires' Row, Robertson looked around the table and realised a platoon of Liverpool's big guns was absent.

Somehow the Reds stood firm with James McConnell (19), Bobby Clark (19) and Jayden Danns (18) taking the chequered flag.

Almost 20 years ago, in his role as a Match of the Day pundit, Liverpool legend Alan Hansen famously said "You can't win anything with kids".

But Klopp's remarkable Liver bird chicks eight of his Wembley squad came through academy director Alex Inglethorpe's Kop kindergarten - have proved him wrong.

And Robertson revealed the key to their maturity was senior players making sure the kids don't strut before they can cut it.