Derry teenager Trent Kone Doherty relishing life at Liverpool Football Club

​It was a miserable night for Liverpool boss Arne Slot whose side have lost their last six games against English opposition in the league and cup but it was another important milestone for the promising Derry teenager who replaced another special talent in Rio Ngumoha on 86 minutes of the 3-0 defeat. The ex-Foyle Harps lad is relishing the experience of breaking through the ranks at one of the Premier League champions and in a recent interview with the club's media team, Kone-Doherty shared an insight into why Liverpool is the perfect environment to continue his development by training alongside elite senior players at the AXA Training Centre. Since arriving at the Reds from Derry City in 2022, the forward has gone on to make a senior debut and also play for the first time for Republic of Ireland's U21s. Last week, Kone-Doherty was on the scoresheet twice to help the club's U19s group claim a 5-4 UEFA Youth League win at Eintracht Frankfurt. A regular member of the Liverpool U21s attack, too, Kone-Doherty feels working under new head coach Rob Page can help him realise his ambitions in years to come. "I just love playing football so any time you get the chance to play football I just try to stay relaxed and do my thing,” he said. On making his senior debut at Plymouth Argyle last season, he reflected; “That was a really proud moment for me and my family. I was just delighted when the manager asked me to come on, the manager just told me to go and be brave, try to beat a man and get crosses into the box.

"It was an unfortunate result but on a personal note it was a really proud moment. Hopefully I can get more opportunities in the future.”

He believes he’s beginning to reap the rewards of training with the senior squad at the AXA Training Centre. “I think I've definitely developed as a player because when I first came here I was not developed physically, nowhere near to what I am now. “I've definitely learned a lot with the coaches and the experience of being around good players as well has helped me along. I still have a lot of work to do but I feel like I'm developing well. “When you go over there, it's always try to show a good impression of yourself. Obviously the standards are really high so you just want to keep up and try to show what you can do.

"These players are some of the best in the world so they keep the standards high and if you drop below them they will let you know to raise up your standards.

"I always look at the way they do certain things before training and after, because that's what I, we are all aspiring to be like. It's just the small things we look at, even the superstitions they have, everyone has their own thing and it's just good to see sometimes.”

He’s relishing being involved with the first time and hoping for more opportunities to impress with the 21s.

"We have a really strong squad and as the manager has been saying, we are still getting there. We've got things to work on but we will get it, we are developing nicely and starting to develop more relationships on the field. Hopefully we can start getting better results in the upcoming games.

He continues to make strides on the international stage and in Jim Crawford’s U21 Ireland squad. “It was a proud moment for me [Ireland U21s debut]. Liverpool have had a few players play for Ireland so Liverpool is well known there. It would be amazing to play for the senior team one day, as a kid your dream is to play for your country at senior level so hopefully one day that comes.

"I'll just keep my head down, keep developing and then you never know what can happen in the future.”