Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher admits he's been impressed by Spanish teenage striker Dani Pacheco and local youngsters Jay Spearing and Stephen Darby in preseason training.

"I think the young lads have done superbly so far," Carragher told liverpoolfc.tv. "We've all been there as a young lad when you're probably a bit shy knocking around with the first team but they've all come in and haven't been overawed by it all and I think they've impressed all of us.

"Jay and Stephen have both stepped up from the reserves and done really well and Pacheco has probably done as well as anyone.

"If you look at his age, he's still only 17, then you're just delighted that he's at Liverpool.

"But, as I've said, they've all been good and it's nice for everyone at the club to see young players come into the team during pre-season and give a good account of themselves.

"We all know what it's like when you come through as a young player and you just want to impress the manager on the training pitch and in matches and I think they will have done that.

"Now they have to keep on working hard and looking to get better so that they can give themselves as a good a chance as they possibly can.

"I'm desperate for young players to come through, especially young Scouse lads, and I think the ones who've been involved so far have definitely shown what they can do.

"When you come away the pre-season training sessions are really important for the young players because you're in the manager's face all the time and that gives you a chance to impress him as much as you can.

"Going back to when I first came into the side I knew I had to treat training just like a match if I was going to impress the manager and that's certainly what the likes of Darby and Spearing have been doing."