Seventeen-year-old Trent Kone-Doherty scored his first goal in the Premier League 2 as Liverpool played out a 1-1 draw with Derby County in the absence of Ben Doak and Bobby Clark on Friday night.

Manager Barry Lewtas made four changes to the side that thrashed local rivals Everton earlier in the week, with Clark, James McConnell and captain Jarrell Quansah not involved ahead of Liverpool’s first-team clash with Bournemouth this afternoon.

In their place came Kone-Doherty, Melkamu Frauendorf and Tom Hill while Fabian Mrozek replaced Marcelo Pitaluge between the sticks.

Following a tentative first half at Alfreton Town’s Impact Arena, the young Reds broke the deadlock 11 minutes after the interval when Kone-Doherty, who signed from Derry City last summer and was making his first start at this level, timed his run to perfection to beat the offside trap and fire a low effort past Harry Evans.

In search of an elusive second goal, Lewtas handed debuts to midfielder Kieran Morrison and defender Josh Davidson, who impressed for the under-18s during last weekend’s opening-day victory against Nottingham Forest.

But after a late surge from the Rams in the final plays of the contest, striker Dajaune Brown found himself well-placed to seize on 36-year-old Bradley Johnson’s header, which cannoned off the woodwork, to restore parity 10 minutes from time.

Speaking after the game, Lewtas insisted there were plenty of positives for his side to take despite the late sucker punch.

“To be fair, they came back at us second half and in the end, it’s a tough week for the lads playing on Monday and Friday, so we’ll take the point,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “We had a young team out. Luca Stephenson played at centre-half and did ever so well, Tom Hill made his first start for a while, played for an hour as a No.6 and did very well. It’s just great to have him back.

“Trent scored a nice goal for us and it was nice to see him get his first goal in Premier League 2.”

Liverpool Under-21s are next in action on Friday night when they visit Southampton in the Premier League 2.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Mrozek; Miles, Luca Stephenson, Chambers, Scanlon; Hill (Pilling 61), Norris, Frauendorf (Davidson, 78); Kone-Doherty (Morrison 70), Cannonier, Musialowsk