Shakespeare Says He Was 'Delighted' With Liverpool's Decision to Substitute Coutinho at Half-Time

Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare says that he was 'delighted' with Jurgen Klopp's decision to withdraw Philippe Coutinho from proceedings at half-time, a pivotal decision made by the German which spurred the Blues on to defeat the Reds in the third-round of the Carabao Cup.

The Foxes, in the first 45-minutes of their triumphant 2-0 victory over Liverpool on Tuesday night, had their backs against the wall as they battled to withstand the Reds almost constant onslaught on their goal, predominantly through Coutinho's contribution in the offensive third.

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The Brazilian tested Ben Hamer and stretched Leicester's back four, but the Premier League champions of two years ago stood firm, and in the second half of the encounter, Shakespeare urged his men to become more 'aggressive', if they were to put their opponents to the sword.

Speaking to the media - via Four Four Two - Shakespeare said: "We led a charmed life in the first half,

"We know that our goal was under threat. I was just delighted to get in at half-time and then even more delighted to see they took Coutinho off.

"That was one of the main contributions to us for the second half.

"You worry about your own team's performance and we asked them to be more aggressive in the second half. We needed better hold up play from the centre forwards in the second half.

"We wanted to play on the front foot a bit more. Shinji got his chance due to an injury to Leonardo Ulloa, but I thought that was key moment for us as well.

"You could see the response in terms of Shinji getting in and around people and it was a major factor in contributing to the win."