Liverpool v Derby County: Rams hope Carabao Cup tie 'sign of things to come'

Paul Warne's Derby County side are seventh in the League One table

Playing Liverpool under the lights of Anfield will "be a reminder" to all at Derby County of where they want the club to be, says Rams boss Paul Warne.

The Rams were still in administration and had just been relegated to League One when Liverpool faced Real Madrid in last season's Champions League final.

Wednesday's League Cup tie will be Derby's first Anfield visit since they were in the Premier League in 2007-08.

"Hopefully it's a sign of things to come," Warne told BBC Radio Derby.

"I'm not saying that in two years we are going to be playing in the Premier League against Liverpool, but it reminds you of where you want to be as a football club.

"It's also an opportunity for the fans to just enjoy being a Derby fan because the club is still here, growing in a healthy trajectory, and hopefully tomorrow night will be a mark of that."

Derby have also received a late boost, with Eiran Cashin available for the game - on what will be his 21st birthday - after a successful appeal led to his red card from Sunday's 2-2 FA Cup draw with non-league Torquay being overturned.

Warne's 'fearful respect' for Klopp

Warne, 49, who has been in the Derby job for less than seven weeks after leaving Rotherham and dropping a division take the helm of the rebuilding Rams, says he is relishing coming up against Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp - a manager he has a "fearful respect" for.

"I appreciate the power they have got and appreciate that Jurgen wants to win every game - as the best managers do," Warne said.

"It will be an honour to stand beside him in that great stadium and great traditional football club. In that respect I look forward to it."

Warne already has memories of Anfield from his playing days, having been part of the Rotherham United side that was beaten 3-0 by Liverpool in the FA Cup third round in 2001.

He remembers it as an "amazing day" because the Millers - a side playing in the third division then - "gave it a good crack".

"It was only a good day because we performed really well against these heroes of ours really," he added.

Fights and a shirt swap request from Warne's mum

In 2001, Liverpool's Michael Owen had to keep Rotherham's Paul Warne and the Reds' Vladimir Smicer apart as they fought in their FA Cup third-round tie

Warne knows a glamour tie such as this is enough to "get another 10% out of players" because he knows all about the "adrenaline that gets pumping" having grappled with Vladimir Smicer - a player who went on to lift the Champions League trophy with Liverpool - on his last visit.

"I remember standing in the tunnel, looking down at the shirts and seeing [Emile] Heskey, [Michael] Owen, [Jamie] Carragher and Smicer - I remember him really well because we had a bit of fight off the pitch," Warne said.

"He went down too easy on a free-kick, you would be very surprised to know. Then he said something to me and threw the ball at me, and then it was a little bit of, 'What did you do that for?' in a nice way and he said it back to me and then the ref got involved.

"I always remember my brother, in the good old days when you would do paper cuttings, and he cut the picture out of me and Smicer having a push off and going, 'Look how famous you are.'"

It is a nostalgic tale that Warne recalls with a smile.

The tie is also one of the few from his playing days that he has memorabilia from. And that is thanks to the intervention of his mother after Jamie Carragher failed to swap shirts after the match.

"I never asked for shirts, it was never really my sort of thing," Warne explains.

"With Carragher, I thought, 'This is Liverpool.' I feel like I should ask. I was embarrassed to ask, truth be told.

"I asked for it and he said, 'I'll give it to you,' then after the game I spoke to mum and dad and they asked if I got a shirt. I said, 'No, but I did ask for Carragher's and he said I could have it but I didn't get it.'

"My mum then reached out to the club on Monday morning and sort of said, 'My son asked for Carragher's shirt,' and the message got through to the kit man and he kindly got it signed and sent to me, which I'll never forget.

"It's embarrassing enough asking without my mum asking for it. That is another level of embarrassment. She didn't tell me until after and she was really proud of herself."