'Will never forget it': Accrington Stanley star faces brutal reality after Liverpool moment

Accrington Stanley's Donald Love could struggle to sleep tonight.

He manchester united The youth player had his team's best scoring opportunity in the glamorous FA Cup tie in Liverpoolbut he missed with a header from close range in the second half.

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The score was 2-0 at that time thanks to Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold's goals, but the visitors would have deserved to score.

League Two Accrington took advantage of the hosts' much-changed side at Anfield, but failed to muster a decent shot on goal, and after Love missed a header, the Reds quickly escaped, making it a 4-0 scoreline late on. of the party. federico chiesa and Jayden Danns.

Found at the far post with a cross and Caoimhin Kelleher As they fought, the visiting team stood up and the home team covered their faces with their hands.

But Love nodded and the former England and West Ham striker Dean Ashton revealed the brutal truth behind what the 30-year-old will be going through.

“He'll never forget it, he won't, it's so brutal,” the talkSPORT pundit said.

“It was there and he just had to head it down and in and the goalkeeper probably wouldn't save it because of how close it was, but he put it over the bar.

“It could have been a moment that you can remember for years and tell your children and grandchildren, but that is now over.

“Honestly, he'll never forget it and his teammates will never let him because it was a great opportunity.”

The moment came in the 65th minute, when Accrington worked well on a short corner and Love read Shaun Whalley's perfect cross to the far post as Liverpool's defense stalled.

It was a classy moment from the fourth tier team just as they began to find their rhythm and neutrals like Ashton would have loved to see him come on.

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Explaining why, he said: “It would have been really interesting to see what the reaction would have been from the Liverpool or Accrington players because they had really done themselves proud by showing a bit of fight in the second half.”

He added: “To a large extent (the scoreline does them no favours) if this game ended 2-1 or 3-1 it would have been a fairer reflection of what they created and the way they played.

“Liverpool were pretty poor for much of the game and Accrington tried to take advantage as best they could.

“All it would have taken is the right pass, the right touch or the right header and those key moments, they have to be perfect in a game like this, but they just weren't and it wasn't like that on a day like this.”

Love may return home a little frustrated, but it was still an incredible day for the visitors, and in particular their Liverpool defender Josh Woods.

Scouser shared a good moment with Reds manager Arne Slot in the post-match tunnel and also told ITV about his emotions.

“Honestly, it was surreal, I was trying to control all my emotions and stay relaxed, but in the first half I was very nervous,” he said.

“I came out of the second half a little more relaxed and I felt we did well in the first 20 minutes, we held it tight but with world-class players on the counter-attack it was difficult to stop.”

Liverpool-born team-mate Whalley added: “I don't think we were ourselves in the first half but that was going to happen with nerves and excitement.”

Speaking of Love's chance, he said: “I should have scored! I wanted the assist.”