Liverpool’s on loan forward Lewis Koumas has sent a clear message to Stoke City manager Mark Robins by scoring a brace in the FA Cup fourth round tie against Cardiff City. Despite the 19-year-old being on the scoresheet twice he couldn’t help his side avoid a penalty shootout defeat.

Koumas has been on loan with Stoke from Liverpool since the summer. His two goals close to either side of halftime saw the Potters come from 2-0 down to draw level.

Stoke took the lead just before the hour mark, but Cardiff made it 3-3 just over 10 minutes later. Extra time couldn’t separate the two teams, with Cardiff eventually coming out as 4-2 winners in a penalty shootout.

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Despite the defeat, Koumas has been praised for his performance in the game. In StokeonTrentLive’s player ratings, the Liverpool man was awarded an eight out of 10, with the assessment reading: “Sharp finish to pull Stoke back into game and dangerous with runs in from left. Took equaliser well too.”

After the game, the player himself took to social media to respond to his goals. Sharing pictures from the game on his Instagram page, he wrote: “First career brace [two football emojis and a tick emoji] Thank you to the fans and people close to me for the continued support [red heart emoji]”.

Koumas’ brace comes at a good time for the winger, with it sending a message to his manager. Following the 0-0 draw with Oxford United just a couple of weeks ago, Robins sent a demand to his young players.

“It's really frustrating because you want them to be the finished article but they're youngsters. I've just said, it's not an academy. This is serious,” he said.

“It's men's football and it's about winning games and having the understanding to deliver what you need to deliver. If you're reluctant to shoot or reluctant to get into the positions when you can score or be hungry to score... There's only really Nathan (Lowe) who is hungry to score a goal and, again, he's a youngster that's learning his trade.

“Those are the things that are frustrating but we can't be frustrated by the fact that we've got young, young players in the team who are learning their trade in the final area of the pitch. We've got to give them all the encouragement we can possibly give them, while I can say I'm frustrated, and we are frustrated and probably the players are frustrated, they need to learn and learn quickly.”

Following the comments, Koumas was dropped to the bench for the first time under Robins for last week’s Championship clash against Hull City. He did, however, come onto the pitch in the second half and provide an assist for the winning goal in a 2-1 victory.

Koumas was reinstated into the starting XI against Cardiff, with his two goals a boost for his hopes of retaining hos starting place. He will hope to continue his recent form when Stoke travel to take on Bristol City in the Championship on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-off).