Eunan O'Kane made a big impression at Liverpool

It has been hard for Eunan to sit out so many matches in the last year. He almost became a forgotten man, such was the form of Arter and Surman in the Championship, but he has been waiting patiently and I thought he had a great game in trying and succeeding to keep one of the big stars in the Premier League fairly quiet on the night. Eunan stuck to Coutinho as expected for most of the game and will surely be given the role when other teams that have such a player demand a little protection for AFCB's back four.

Eunan has had a good start to his season. Now he has
an international call up as well.

The selection of Eunan O'Kane was one of the few that I did expect Eddie Howe to make as he is such an influential player at protecting the ball and nipping in to win possession. He is eager now as well I believe having not played a great deal in the last year and it may be that that is a bonus for the Cherries as there was talk last summer of him definitely being one of the best players in the squad and one of the players that fans most feared seeing a transfer bid come in for.

Now Eunan has displaced Dan Gosling for the moment, he'll need to keep proving that he is a player that is should be kept in the side. I feel his attributes are well suited to this level and if he can start to have a few more positive runs during games his confidence should start rising further. I only saw one trademark special run of his against Liverpool when he ventured forward and hit the side netting in the second half, but his aim was mainly to keep Coutinho quiet. I'd say that he had the hardest job on the night but he saw the Liverpool star subbed at the end of the game and O'Kane had kept him quiet despite having a yellow card for much of the game.

This was one of the big positives on the night and I hope Eunan keeps his place for the West Ham match. It is also worth noting that Eunan along with Harry Arter has been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad. I think this is the first time that Eunan has made the full squad and he'll no doubt want to stay there now.

All Departments recalls all the goals that should have been and those that shouldn't on an exciting night at Anfield in the latest All Departments' podcast - Liverpool 1 v 0 AFCB. Visit All Departments to listen in or click on the logo and sound bar on this site.