James Milner believes Liverpool will face a Maribor side inspired by the 'special occasion' of playing at Anfield on Wednesday - meaning Darko Milanic's team cannot be underestimated.

The Reds won the reverse fixture 7-0 a fortnight ago but, during Tuesday's pre-match press conference, Milner insisted Maribor 'will not be taken lightly' by Jürgen Klopp's men.

As well as discussing his return to midfield in recent weeks, Liverpool's vice-captain also spoke about the importance of building momentum after Saturday's 3-0 victory over Huddersfield Town and his young teammate Rhian Brewster, who helped England to U17 World Cup glory at the weekend.

Read on for a transcript from the No.7's media briefing at Anfield...

On Liverpool's preparations for Maribor...

We won’t take them lightly, we know they are a strong team. You don’t get to the group stages of the Champions League without being a strong side. I think we performed very well on the night [in Slovenia] and I don’t think they performed to their standards, so I know if I was in their dressing room I would want to put that right and coming to Anfield. It’s a special occasion and I know we have to be on top of our game. So we will perform the same and set the same tempo as we did last time and come out all guns blazing.

I don’t think any of their players performed to their best [in the first game] and they will know that. Obviously we have to concentrate on our job and work hard and play well. If we do that we know we have the quality to win the game, but we are expecting to see a very different Maribor side.

On the Reds' response versus Huddersfield after the defeat at Tottenham...

I think it’s nice to bounce back with a win. We knew it would be a tough game against Huddersfield after the first seconds really, when they just sat back. We knew it would be tough to break them down. They were strong defensively and it was up to us to do that. The first half we didn’t do enough and missed the opportunity, but I think the character the boys showed to bounce back in the second half and come out with a win was a good response to the Spurs game. 

On the importance of momentum… 

It’s very important and it’s something that’s pretty hard to get at this point in the season with an international break every four weeks. That doesn’t help, but it would be nice to finish off the week with two more wins and get through the international break. Then you are in that season where there are a lot of games with Christmas coming up so there is more of a chance to get momentum. We’re in the early stages of the season, we’ve had injuries and we are waiting for it all to click. We showed at Maribor when we do click it’s devastating but we have to get that on a more consistent basis. 

On European nights at Anfield…

I think European nights are always special at Anfield. There are not many places like it and that atmosphere makes a big difference. I think it is important and people expect us to win, but we have to do a job and Maribor are going to come out with their best performance as well. We need to stay focused but to have that crowd behind us and that special atmosphere on a European night at Anfield always helps us.  

On how being in the Champions League has affected Liverpool’s start to the season…

We haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked and the results haven’t been as good as we would have liked but I wouldn’t say it’s down to the Champions League, really. Obviously Adam Lallana sets a tempo with us both ways and Phil [Coutinho] having the odd injury and things like that don’t help. We’ve had a few interruptions and international breaks but every team has it so I don’t want to say that's an excuse. We can beat any team out there so we just have to keep moving forward as a team.

On Brewster…

In the international breaks we have games and I played with him a few times last year and this year. He is definitely a talent and he can score goals, which is the hardest thing to do in football. He has a lot of pace and he’s a good lad as well who wants to listen and learn, and that is half the battle I think.

It’s amazing what the England U17s have done and we saw it [the final win over Spain] in the dressing room after the game against Huddersfield - we gave Alberto Moreno a bit of stick! But it was great to see them do well and they have done us proud. Obviously it’s amazing for the England youth teams and great for the national team to see them coming through.