Liverpool coach Arne Slot has commented on Isaac Mabaya’s senior debut in the FA Cup, fourth round encounter against Plymouth Argyle on Sunday.

Mabaya marked his first senior appearance by coming on from the bench to replace injured Joe Gomez in the 10th minute.

The Zimbabwean defender played until the 58th minute when he was subbed off to make way for striker Darwin Nunez.

The 19-year-old pulled a decent performance but was booked for kicking the ball away towards the end of the first half.

Speaking after the match, Slot commented on Mabaya’s debut and also explained why he had to take the youngster off after coming on as substitute.

The gaffer said: “I think it is a fantastic moment for every player to make your debut and for him as well.”

Slot added: “But I felt I had to take him off for two reasons. He was already on a yellow and it was a game with a lot of duels and a lot of intensity and that’s their playing style. They bring a lot of long balls in, so if you’re one time wrong then it’s a yellow again, and it was a game that was hard enough with 11, let alone with 10.

“And I felt we needed to make an offensive substitution and the other three were Jarell [Quansah], Wata [Endo] and Kostas [Tsimikas] and that didn’t seem smart to me to take one of these three off. I took that decision, and I thought I had to tell him because making your debut and then to be taken off after an hour or something like that is very disappointing for him of course.”