Nigel Adkins is looking forward to taking Southampton to Liverpool this weekend and believes it will be a great occasion for himself and the supporters.
The Southampton boss was born in Birkenhead and was also on the books of Liverpool as a young goalkeeper before he joined Tranmere Rovers.
He now returns to his old stomping ground as a Premier League manager and is both proud and excited by the prospect of leading Southampton out at Anfield on Saturday.
"It will be good to go there," he said. "I was a schoolboy at Liverpool. I had the option to stay there before I decided to go to Tranmere Rovers, which was important from my career point of view.
"We are obviously steeped in tradition on Merseyside: you're either red, blue or the white of Tranmere.
"You are either a Liverpool supporter or an Everton supporter, but you're always going to be a Tranmere supporter if you're from Birkenhead.
"Going to Merseyside is going to be great for everybody and great for all our supporters to go to Liverpool, a club steeped in tradition.
"Obviously they're going through a transition at this moment in time, but it is a game that we'll look forward to as we do every single game in the Barclays Premier League."
The Saints boss, who played at Anfield three times as a player, tried to downplay the personal importance of his managerial debut at the famous old ground, although admitted he has fond memories of his time there.
"This shouldn't be about me and Liverpool," he said. "It should be about Southampton, shouldn't it?"
He now returns to his old stomping ground as a Premier League manager and is both proud and excited by the prospect of leading Southampton out at Anfield on Saturday.
"It will be good to go there," he said. "I was a schoolboy at Liverpool. I had the option to stay there before I decided to go to Tranmere Rovers, which was important from my career point of view.
"We are obviously steeped in tradition on Merseyside: you're either red, blue or the white of Tranmere.
"You are either a Liverpool supporter or an Everton supporter, but you're always going to be a Tranmere supporter if you're from Birkenhead.
"Going to Merseyside is going to be great for everybody and great for all our supporters to go to Liverpool, a club steeped in tradition.
"Obviously they're going through a transition at this moment in time, but it is a game that we'll look forward to as we do every single game in the Barclays Premier League."
The Saints boss, who played at Anfield three times as a player, tried to downplay the personal importance of his managerial debut at the famous old ground, although admitted he has fond memories of his time there.
"This shouldn't be about me and Liverpool," he said. "It should be about Southampton, shouldn't it?"
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