Jordan Henderson has played down his reported tunnel bust-up with Chelsea’s Diego Costa, ahead of Tuesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Henderson clashed with the Chelsea forward in the second half of last week’s game at Anfield, with reports suggesting the disagreement continued into the tunnel at the final whistle – with the players having to be pulled apart by teammates.
Asked about the incident, Henderson said: “I don’t know what you are talking about! There was nothing in it really.
“I just feel as though as I need to take that extra responsibility on and off the field to help the young players coming through. I’ve been through the same things as them.
“We have to be strong both physically and mentality against Chelsea, and I think we’ve shown that recently. We’ve shown that we can be physical when we need to be.
“Whether I get stick off their fans or not, it won’t bother me. I haven’t really thought about it to be honest.
“We were a bit disappointed not to win (the first leg) but our confidence has really grown over the past month or two.
“The second leg might be a little bit different with Chelsea being at home. We know they might come straight at us from the off.
“They have some fantastic players but we are a good team and we’ve shown that of late.
“It’s a big opportunity for us going there on Tuesday. We need to defend like we have been and look to hurt them on the break.
“It would mean everything to get to a Wembley final. One of our big aims this season was to win a trophy and if we beat Chelsea we won’t be far away.
“We’ve been through some tough times this season but we have dug in and stuck together as a team. We’ve come out the other side.”
“It’s Liverpool v Chelsea – it’s two big teams and a big game. The main thing is we go there and I do my best for the team.
“We’ve been fantastic of late and hopefully we can keep putting in performances. We are growing as a team. Hopefully we can keep going from strength to strength.
“We’ve got a great team spirit and if we play the way we can then we can get a good result there.”
