IT may not have been a Liverpool side packed with stars but Accrington Stanley's 3-0 win over the mighty reds was thoroughly deserved.

With only two players with first team experience in keeper Tony Warner and skipper Phil Charnock, the young Anfield starlets were given a footballing lesson from a fired-up Stanley side.

Led by new signing Iain Mclelland, Stanley took the game to Liverpool in front of a bumper 2,028 crowd and got a deserved break through on the half hour after Mark Rawstron rounded off a fine move.

Early second half strikes from former Manchester City and Oldham striker Paul Moulden and Tony Briffa killed off the contest.

Manager Stan Allen said: "It was only a friendly but it showed that if we are given space we can play football. They made us work for our victory and I was very pleased with our performance. It was great confidence booster for the players and fans."

Stanley's pre-season warm up continues on Saturday when they travel to North West Counties side Nelson (kick off 3pm) before taking on prisoners and staff from Kirkham Prison on Sunday.

Allen joked: "I hope we come out with all our squad and not one or two extra in the boot."

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