Darby: Thanks, lads

Stephen Darby today thanked his Liverpool teammates for helping him bounce back with an impressive performance in Saturday’s FA Cup draw with Reading.

The 21-year-old was left dejected on his first start for Liverpool last month after a late error led to Fiorentina's winning goal in a Champions League encounter at Anfield.

Darby returned to the first-team fold in the 1-1 stalemate with the Royals and earned glowing praise from Reds vice-captain Jamie Carragher after producing an encouraging display at the Madejski Stadium.

However, he is well aware there is still plenty of hard work ahead.

"It was a big confidence booster to be selected for the game and it shows the manager has faith in me," said the full-back. "I tried to repay that faith by putting in a good performance.

"It hurt for a couple of days after the Fiorentina game, but that's where you've got to be mentally tough and overcome it in training sessions. The lads got behind me and gave me great advice and encouragement.

"Hopefully there will be a couple of more chances in the next couple of weeks. You've got to be level-headed and realise the hard work is only just beginning.

"It gives you a lift to hear the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher saying good things about you, but at the same time you have to remain level headed and keep your feet on the ground.

"It's important to realise the hard work has only just begun."

Liverpool were left frustrated in their opening game of 2010 after being held to a draw by the Championship club.

Gerrard cancelled out Reading striker Simon Church's opener, but the Reds were unable to find a winning goal and now face a replay against the Royals on Wednesday week.

Darby admits Brain McDermott's side made life difficult, but the Maghull-born defender is confident Benitez's charges can secure a place in round four of the FA Cup.

He said: "It was a tough game. You saw they are a good side and they put us under a lot of pressure.

"We expected Reading to come out and play well. It's the FA Cup and if you lose a game, you're out of the competition, so we knew they would be passionate and come out fighting.

"We were disappointed to go a goal down in the first half. I thought we fought back well and had a couple of chances to win the game but unfortunately didn't take them.

"The game opened up in the second half and they put us under pressure, but we defended well as a team and were compact.

"Reading proved they are tough to beat, but we've got a lot of quality in our side and hopefully we can now go to Anfield and get the win in the replay."