I was kept up all night before my Liverpool debut by a team-mate – I was fuming

Premier League debuts are a nerve-wracking experience at the best of times, never mind on minimal sleep.

But those were the cards ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock was dealt after one self-centred team-mate wouldn't let him get a proper night's sleep ahead of one of the biggest days of his career. The full-back was trying to carve out a name for himself at Anfield and was selected to start in an August 2004 trip to Bolton Wanderers.

As if the occasion wasn't big enough, the fact Warnock had been kept up all night by a member of his own squad made things that much more difficult. Having made substitute cameos against Manchester City and Tottenham, Warnock wasn't fully prepared when he was only half-awake for his full bow at the Reebok Stadium.

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"When I made my first start was the game where - I'll never forget this," he said during an appearance on Undr the Cosh. "I played away at Bolton, and it was [Xabi] Alonso and [Luis] Garcia's debuts as well. And Luis Garcia was in the team, and I roomed with him.

"He f***ing kept me up all night. He was on FaceTime at about two or three in the morning. He was on FaceTime to his family or whoever it was at like half two in the morning. And you're thinking I can't really turn around and go, 'Will you f***ing go to [sleep].' This brand new signing, I don't wanna upset him or anything like that.

"I was f***ed in the game the next day, and I remember thinking, 'You b*****d.' I was fuming."

FaceTime wasn't created until 2010, so Warnock presumably meant a video-calling equivalent like Skype. However, needless to say things didn't go to plan - for Liverpool or Warnock regardless - as the Reds lost 1-0 and saw their unbeaten start to the season end abruptly. Warnock was hooked at half-time in favour of Djibril Cisse (another summer 2004 signing) and was dropped by Rafa Benitez for the next two league fixtures.

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Garcia started in attack alongside Milan Baros that day in Bolton and had a controversial equaliser ruled out for offside. However, it was only a fortnight before he got his first Liverpool goal, wrapping up a 3-0 victory over West Brom in his Anfield debut.

Warnock went on to say Benitez never resolved things due to the fact that, while his tactics were spot on, "his man management was horrendous." Liverpool went on to lift the Champions League and usher in one of the club's most hallowed nights later that season, but one can bet Warnock did all he could to avoid sharing a room with Garcia again.