Blackburn Rover’s midfielder Tom Cairney has said Raheem Sterling is right to try to hold Liverpool to ransom over his new contract, according to the Daily Mail.
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Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers face off in an FA Cup quarter final replay at Ewood Park on Wednesday evening, with a trip to Wembley to face Aston Villa on offer for the winners.
When asked about the ongoing Raheem Sterling contract saga, the 24 year old said the youngster deserved sympathy, not ridicule:
“I know [asking for] more than one hundred grand a week sounds stupid, but that’s the world we live in and that’s football” Cairney told the paper. “It’s up to him. If he stays at Liverpool he will be one of the top players for the next eight years”.
“He might be thinking the top dog at Liverpool is on a lot more and he feels he’s doing a job just as well. To turn down one hundred grand a week in our world is crazy but he’s in the top three 20-year-olds in the world”.
Liverpool and Blackburn drew 0-0 in the original game at Anfield a month ago. Cairney says the players were nervous in that game, but having got through it they will be confident in front of their own packed stadium. “When we went to Anfield in the last match we were scared” he said. “Scared of failing and scared of getting hammered”.
Blackburn do need to be wary. They lost 5-0 to Manchester City in an FA Cup replay last season after a creditable draw in the first tie.
Kick off is at 7:45pm local time.