CONOR Hourihane is unlikely to take his players out drinking in a Merseyside pub on Sunday evening but that was the formula that worked for Danny Wilson in November 1997.

Barnsley famously beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield in their only top flight season, thanks to an Ashley Ward goal.

It was a morale boost for a newly-promoted side who had struggled to adapt to the top flight, losing 4-1 at Southampton in their previous fixture.

Adi Moses, who played that day, told the Chronicle: “I played at Southampton and that was one of the really bad ones.

“It was international break and me and Martin Bullock went straight from The Dell to England under 21s. We missed training then came back for Liverpool.

“Danny and Eric (Winstanley) and the staff took us down the local pub for a drink.

“I can’t remember where it was but it was somewhere on the outskirts of Liverpool. They were trying to get morale up. Danny was like a bear with a sore head after a bad defeat then suddenly he would motivate you before the next game.

“We only had a couple of pints, it was all above board. You could have a soft drink or a beer, or nothing at all.

“It was team-building and it obviously worked wonders.

“I think that was the only time he ever did it but it was a masterstroke.

“The foreign lads coming in are probably thinking ‘what the hell is this?’

“Especially Peter (Markstedt) who was the most laid-back player I ever played with.

“He had just signed and probably thought it happened every game.

“As much as we were little old Barnsley, we were still a Premier League outfit so people recognised us.

“We had some recognisable faces, not myself but Ashley Ward and John Hendrie who football fans at that time would know.

“We all walked in matching club tracksuits. Some of the locals just said ‘aren’t you playing at Anfield tomorrow, lads?’”

German goalkeeper Lars Leese came into the side for the dropped David Watson while Swede Markstedt made his debut in defence against Michael Owen and Karl-Heinz Riedle.

Ward’s goal was via a major error by Czech star Patrik Berger.

Moses said: “I had to man-mark a lot of players that season. I did it with Marc Overmars and David Ginola.

“At Liverpool it was Steve McManaman. I like to think I did a good job on him.

“It’s a bit awkward man-marking these big stars because you just follow them round the pitch all game and I found myself apologising to him but I just did what I was told.

“Wardy scored and then we just spent the rest of the game defending, and a lot of last-ditch stuff.

“Lars and Peter were brilliant, but so was every player.

“We really dug in which you have to do at those places, you’re going to have to ride your luck in the Premier League and we were kind of punching above our weight a little bit.

“It has gone down in history and people always talk to me about it – ‘I remember you man-marking McManaman at Anfield.’

“Losing 6-0 at Chelsea live on telly early on ruined our confidence a bit but the Liverpool game gave us some belief back that we weren’t going to get hammered every week.

“There weren’t many away wins that season but you have to think: how many people go to Liverpool and get three points?

“If you had to pick one of the games you would want to win that would be one of the top ones.”

Moses is a regular attendee at Oakwell either as a fan or a radio pundit, and covered Barnsley’s 7-0 loss at Manchester United in the EFL Cup last season.

“I came away from that really disappointed. It felt like they were just trying to keep the scoreline down and they couldn’t.

“The fans want to see the team having a go, and if they lose doing that they would rather see that than defending all game and still losing heavily.

“There is obviously a massive gulf. Liverpool can sign £100million players.

“Barnsley have got a good record at Anfield.

“I just hope we have a bit of a go and you never know what might happen.”