Singapore national team coach, Raddy Avramovic, wants his eleven Lions to take to the field without fear when they face Liverpool this weekend.

By Kelvin Leong and Ian Griffiths

As the Liverpool caravan prepares to roll into Singapore on Thursday, the affable Serb has been busy instilling a sense of belief in his players as they prepare to take on the Premier League giants at a packed to capacity National Stadium.

Despite many observers already writing off any chance of an upset, Avramovic remains defiantly optimistic, insisting that a united and positive front is vital if his charges are to get anything from Sunday's fixture.

"My players have to show that they want to play against Liverpool. They must play without fear," the Serb revealed after a brisk training session at Geylang Field.

"We will not be concerned about any one particular player as the Liverpool team will contain so many players that will need good looking after.

"It is therefore important that we keep our shape, that we keep our discipline and then try to make the most of any opportunity that comes our way."

Liverpool favourite Steven Gerrard will be a notable absentee against Singapore due to a high profile and ongoing court case, but despite Liverpool not having the England international at their disposal, Avramovic remains wary of the potency Rafa Benitez's men will bring to Singapore.

"Much has been made of which Liverpool player will be coming to Singapore and which will not," he declared.

"But look, Liverpool have 52 professional players at the club. These players are with the club because they deserve to be.

"In the end, it doesn't matter who does or does not come here and who we will be playing against because Liverpool will be putting out a good and very high quality side no matter what".

Having played against Liverpool in his days as a goalkeeper with Coventry City, Avramovic enjoyed mixed results against the mighty Reds.

He stopped a penalty in one game that Liverpool went on to win 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Merseyside legend, Kenny Dalglish.

But revenge was sweet when Avramovic kept goal against the Anfield outfit in a subsequent match which saw Coventry stun Liverpool with a 4-0 victory.

As he shared his ups and downs against Liverpool, Avramovic was also keen to point out that even though playing against Liverpool is always an auspicious occasion, he has no intention of changing Singapore's pre-match routine.

"Preparations for the Liverpool game are the same as for any other game.

"Just because we are up against Liverpool doesn't meant we need to change our training style to suit them. We simply will not do that."

Just another game for the Lions?

Maybe so, but Raddy and his men seem determined to give the Lion City an early National Day present despite the odds being well and truly stacked against them.