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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers believes that any racist abuse directed at his players tonight will make his team stronger, as they face Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League tonight.
It has been feared that the Reds will face a torrent of racist abuse from the Zenit Ultra's in tonight's clash after they manifesto urging their club not to sign any non-white players.
But Rodgers claims he never had any doubts over including the likes of Glen Johnson, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom for tonight’s clash, and insists any abuse will only act as a motivation for his players.
“I didn’t consider leaving anyone behind,” he said.
“These are young players who have experienced this in their lives before. We’ll go into the sporting arena and hopefully everyone from football – UEFA, the referee and the officials – can all support any player it may affect.
“I didn’t think of it too much because these are players who want to play. Some are young players wanting to progress in the game, while Glen is a top international footballer who has experienced lots of things.
“They understand – the likes of Raheem has been through situations like this before.
“No-one in life wants to see anyone come under any scrutiny like that. We hope it’s a game where the officials and UEFA can take care of all that side.
“We want the talk to be about two good teams and a good game. If anything untoward happens, us as a group will always do everything we can to support the player or players that may happen to.
“If there’s an issue in the game it will be something that will very much unite the group.”
