Suarez is serving the penultimate match of his subsequent eight-game ban while Evra is expected to run the gauntlet this afternoon.

But despite his plea for calm among the fans, Dalglish does not want either the crowd or his players to be overly-welcoming to their visitors from the other end of the East Lancs Road.

“We certainly don’t want the players to lose sight – and I don’t think they will – of the competitiveness in the game,” says the Scot. “They have to stand up for themselves.

“We have to compete and do things properly and it’s the same for the supporters. They have been magnificent throughout our history and I am sure they will continue to do that.

“They will come along and support us.

“I’m sure there will be banter going back and forth between both sets of fans and as long as it’s respectful then there won’t be a problem.”

Liverpool have beaten United only once in the FA Cup during the last 91 years, although that was in their last Anfield meeting in the competition in 2006 when Peter Crouch scored the only goal.

Dalglish’s second stint as manager began with a 1-0 third round defeat at Old Trafford last season, with the Scot also losing to United in the FA Cup while at Anfield in the semi-finals of 1979 and 1985.

And the Liverpool manager believes the intensity of the occasion hasn’t changed since when he first arrived on Merseyside back in 1977.

“It’s just the same,” he says. “I remember getting beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford and the first game I played was an exciting 0-0 in the Charity Shield.

“Both sets of fans respect the other club for what they have done. They have both been hugely successful.”

Of the rivalry with United, Dalglish adds: “It doesn’t matter who is in front or behind us, we aren’t going to lose sight of what we are trying to do by worrying about someone else.

“If there’s something out there we can learn from, then we will do. We’re certainly not going to be naïve enough to think you cannot learn things from other people.

“While we have our own way of doing things, is there’s something else out there that can help us then we’ll try our best to look at it.

“If we want to go forward then we have to have an outlook as open as that. We can’t blame anyone else for our demise. If we don’t do well, then the answer is in our own hands.

“We can help ourselves more by working extra hard at our own club than worrying about what someone else is doing.”