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The Irishman's substitution was an act of mercy by Steve Coppell; Martin Skrtel's ruthless triumph was the kind from which crowd favourites emerge.

Nine games into his Liverpool career and the 6ft 4in Slovak is already acquainted with the slings and arrows that have characterised a soap opera of a campaign for the club.

His subsequent response, however, has reflected well on Rafael Benítez's decision to pay Zenit St Petersburg £6.5m - a record Liverpool outlay on a defender - for the 23-year-old during the January window.

Smarter strikers than Long have succumbed in combat with Skrtel, voted man of the match when Benítez took his first league point from a top-four rival at Stamford Bridge last month, and who travels to Old Trafford tomorrow with hope of claiming even more.

But Havant & Waterlooville were a different matter, and they were integral to the speed of Skrtel's development.

"In some respects I think that game helped me a lot," the Liverpool centre-half explains through an interpreter.

"The main difference was on the pitch and the pace of the game here, but I am a physical player and so I think the English game suits me.

Off the pitch, in my private life, I was living on my own in Russia and there hasn't been a big difference for me here.

"I am taking English lessons every day, if possible, and I knew what to expect by joining Liverpool so the criticism [after Havant & Waterlooville] did not surprise me.

"My father had to finish his career early because of a knee injury when I was very young, but it makes me realise how precious this career is," the Liverpool defender adds.

"My parents are my biggest influences and my father was the first person to take me to a football pitch and he was my first coach, but he never forced me into the game.