What derby day means to Dalglish

Dalglish highlighted the need for an improvement in defence (GETTY IMAGES)

Kenny Dalglish returns to Goodison Park as Liverpool manager this weekend for the first time since quitting the post 20 years ago insisting little has changed in the Merseyside derby. Just a couple of days after seeing Everton striker Tony Cottee score two late goals in a 4-4 extra-time draw in a fifth-round FA Cup replay on 20 February 1991, the Scot walked out on his beloved club.

At the time he cited health issues, feeling the pressure not only of the job but of the previous two years during which he had dealt so admirably with the Hillsborough disaster.

"The competition is still as intense and the desire to win is the same as before," said the Liverpool manager. "I don't think it has been devalued – it doesn't matter how long ago it was you have been involved or not or how recently.

"It is a Merseyside derby and like everyone who has been involved in it they think it is the most important one. But people in Birmingham think theirs is the biggest, Rangers and Celtic think theirs is the biggest – and they are right. This is the biggest one because this is the one I am involved in. There is no point in having a league table of clubs you are not involved with."

Asked about his memories of that night at Goodison just over 20 years ago, Dalglish added: "We've been through all that many times before and there is no point in revisiting it. But if we get four goals on Saturday I'll be delighted. If we get four it will be entertaining but I don't think it'll be entertaining for the blue half."

Dalglish has experienced many derbies but he picked his highlights as being an emotional 1989 FA Cup final, which Liverpool won 3-2 against the horrific backdrop of Hillsborough barely a month earlier.

"The most poignant derby was the 1989 FA Cup final, not just because we won but for the whole city of Liverpool," he said. "Another poignant one was the final in 1986 when you saw fathers going to the game with their kids, one in red and one in blue. That spoke volumes for the city in how the people could conduct themselves.

"It would be easy for us to say it is the friendly derby – it probably is the most friendly in the Premier League – but whether it is the same as before is for others to judge. But we know what a victory in the derby means to the people of Liverpool and how much elation the players get from it. There are players who have not played in it before who may play on Saturday but I am sure they understand what it stands for."