Sunday’s game also saw the first senior exposure for two of Liverpool’s highly-rated Academy prospects having impressed during training at Melwood.

Both 16-year-old Fernandez Suso and 15-year-old Raheem Sterling were introduced during the closing moments, the latter even going into the referee’s notebook for one clattering challenge.

And Liverpool manager Hodgson explained: “We initially thought we’d need them to have 18 players. As it turned out, Emiliano Insua came with us as did Fabio Aurelio, so we had 20 players so they weren’t quite as necessary as I thought they were going to be.

“But I didn’t want to put them on the bench and give them the hope of playing the game without giving them five or six minutes on the pitch.

“It’s not much, but when you are 15 in the case of Sterling or 16 in the case of Suso, and you get a chance to play against Borussia Moenchengladbach in front of 50,000, then it’s an experience.

“It’s an experience I hope they will take with them for the next two or three years back to the reserves and the Academy.

“I hope it will inspire them to have a good career with Liverpool.”