Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough has insisted that there is no pressure on his side heading into Tuesday's EFL Cup clash with Liverpool.
Burton will welcome the Premier League giants to the Pirelli Stadium for the second-round fixture, before taking on another of Clough's former clubs Derby County in a Championship match on Friday.
Such fixtures were few and far between when Burton were a non-League club just seven years ago, and Clough believes that the occasions should be relished rather than feared.
"Obviously there's no such thing as a free game because you want to win and get through, but this is as close as it gets for us. Playing Liverpool and Derby this week is not pressure for us. Having to get a point away at Doncaster to win promotion - that is pressure. It was torturous," he told reporters.
"This is a brilliant week for the club, not a crucial week. Usually big games like this come later in the season and there's a lot riding on them. That's not the case. It's 10 years since we played Manchester United in the FA Cup so these games don't come around very often for us. Ask our supporters. Never in their wildest dreams did they believe they'd be playing teams like this, never mind who we now play in the league week in, week out.
"It's been an incredible 10 years for the club. Seven years in the Football League and we are competing in the Championship. The chairman keeps saying we have to keep pinching ourselves and he's right. We are riding the crest of a wave and we're loving every minute of it."
Clough spent two-and-a-half years with Liverpool as a player from 1993 to 1996.
Barney Corkhill
