Dalglish warns his side to keep their cool

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish hopes his players will display the intelligence required to win tomorrow’s 215th Merseyside derby after errors cost the side defeat in his first two matches in charge.

Dalglish will walk out of the Anfield tunnel as Reds boss for the first time in nearly 20 years and although the welcome he will receive will surpass anything afforded his predecessors he will have wanted to arrive in better circumstances.

Daniel Agger’s misjudged first-minute challenge on Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov and Steven Gerrard’s lunge at Michael Carrick ensured the Scot’s first game in charge ended with an FA Cup exit at Old Trafford last weekend.

And more defensive slip-ups contributed to a 2-1 defeat at Blackpool in midweek.

There have been 19 red cards in this fixture in the last 14 years and Dalglish is keen not to add to that tally.

“The players here know the importance of the derby and sometimes the local lads get carried away and are too motivated and get a bit heated,” said the Reds boss, who with Jamie Carragher still sidelined with a shoulder injury will have no Scousers in his team.

“Nowadays if you say ’Good morning’ to someone you’ve got a chance of getting a red card.

“You have to be intelligent – the fact it is a derby doesn’t change the rules of the game, they are exactly the same.”