Arne Slot has urged Federico Chiesa not to get carried away after his first Liverpool goal in Saturday's 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley. The Italy international was reserved only for the bench after fighting through an illness this week but was a lively second-half substitute as the Reds cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup at Anfield.

After being denied by goalkeeper Billy Crellin before Jayden Danns made it 3-0 with the rebound, Chiesa then struck the post and was not to be denied as he drove home a first strike since his late-August move from Juventus from around 22 yards out late on.

It was a sizable step forward for a player who was making just his fifth appearance since joining for around £12m in the summer but Slot has told him that there are bigger fish to fry if he is to make the grade as a long-term Liverpool player.

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"Rio [Ngumoha] was lucky that Federico wasn’t with us in the last two days because he was sick otherwise Federico would have started, of course," Slot said. "He can play 45 so we could play Dom [Szoboszlai] for 45 minutes, bring him out and then Federico.

"It is nice to make your debut and if you've played for this club already, you want to score your first goal, especially in front of your fans. That's what he's done now and it's a good next step. Let’s not get carried away too much. Although I liked the way Accrington played a lot, it is a League Two team but it is a good next step for him to be available and even score a goal.

"[It's good for confidence] that is definitely true, but if a player is fit and he doesn’t get a chance to show it it is also a frustration. The best part of being a footballer is playing, doing well and winning.

"If you don't play because the manager makes a different decision or you're not available, that is always difficult because every player wants to do what he loves most. Even I would love to still play, but that is not possible any more."

On the exciting Ngumoha, who became the youngest player to start a game for the Reds at 16 years and 135 days, Slot added: "I think he has been with us now for half a season, every time he comes training with us we see what his qualities are.

"He can dominate in one-v-one situations, he is very quick on his feet and can change direction very fast. I am always happy if a player makes his debut that he shows what we see on the training ground. The fans could see if and I think they liked what they saw.

"You could feel that in the stadium in the first half already and when I took him out, the reaction of the fans, you could see they liked what they saw as well. Special day for him, making your debut, win and he will sleep well tonight."