Dalglish Praise For Liverpool Youngster

Liverpool supremo Kenny Dalglish has expressed his delight at the progress made so far by summer signing Sebastian Coates.

The Uruguayan international joined the Reds for £7m in the summer but has failed to break in to Dalglish’s first team plans, with a late substitute outing during a 4-0 defeat to Spurs his only Premier League appearance so far.

However, Dalglish feels the 21-year-old has settled well and has been unlucky not to feature more in the first team. With Agger, Skrtel and Carragher ahead of him in the pecking order, it’s been difficult for the centre back to get a game.

Coates has however had his chance in the Carling Cup, including a starting role in Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Stoke, a game that Dalglish feels was an important part in helping his youngster adapt to life in the Premier League:  

“Coates got his first goal, which is great for him, and great for us. We are delighted with the way Seb is progressing,” Dalglish said.

“It is difficult to get him in the team at the moment because Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger are playing so well and Carra is back from injury.

“But Seb has done really well and he is getting better all the time.

“I think he has settled in really quickly and did really well at Stoke so you are not going to get a sterner test and change in culture more than at Stoke with their style of play, which is unique to the Premier League.

“That was a great test for Seb because they played well that night and put us under a lot of pressure, but he came through that well and we are looking for him to have a long career here.”