ADAM Phillips says he will never forget scoring in front of the Kop end at Anfield.
The Barnsley midfielder, who grew up as a Liverpool fan and spent eight years in their academy, took advantage of a bizarre error by Dominik Szoboszlai who attempted to backheel the ball to his goalkeeper in the box. That made it 2-1 to the hosts who eventually won 4-1 in the FA Cup third round on Monday.
Phillips told the Chronicle: “I’ve just made a run forward and carried on my press.
“I’m not sure really what Szoboszlai was doing, but obviously it’s fallen on a plate for me and I’m in the right position at the right time and luckily there to put it in the back of the net and I take that all day in front of the Kop.
“It’s a bit of a dream come true for myself. I’m really, really happy with it.
“I’ll never forget it.
“I had lots of friends and family there. My phone blew up a bit. They will all be really proud of me.”
Phillips was happy with Barnsley’s performance in general, with the Reds feeling they could have had a penalty for a foul on Reyes Cleary at 2-1.
“It was a good performance. We did our fans proud and put a good shift in.
“Sometimes in these games it’s fine margins and you need a little bit of luck.
“We were really unlucky with the penalty at the time of the game.
“If we get that, then hopefully we equalise and get back in the game.
“But I thought the lads showed character throughout.
“Obviously they’ve scored a couple of goals towards the end, but they’re bringing quality off the bench. The lads should be proud of the performance.”
Phillips has been used in various positions in Barnsley’s midfield this season.
He was on the bench for the home games against Mansfield and Lincoln after Christmas but returned to the starting 11 for the New Year’s Day draw at Wigan and ended a 16-game goalless streak since September. He now has five goals for the season in all competitions.
“I’ve been obviously playing back in my normal position, higher up as an eight, and I always fancy myself when I’m in that position to get chances and create chances.
“Hopefully I can keep carrying on my form in the league and we can keep pushing up the table.”
Barnsley are hoping to build on their Anfield performance and move up from their current position of 17th in League One.
“With the performance we’ve put on at Liverpool, the lads have showed what we can do against tough opposition.
“It’s obviously easy to come to Anfield and do that in that stadium in front of all the fans.
“We need to obviously take this into the league now and just show the character that we showed at Liverpool and hopefully we’ll start picking up some good results.”
