WANDERERS walked from the pitch with heads held high last night after Phillipe Coutinho wrecked the chances of another White Hot night against Liverpool.

For 86 minutes the dream looked possible – Neil Lennon’s patched up team riding their luck but holding their own.

With this kind of mettle and a few extra bodies on board don’t write anything off in the Championship just yet.

But after Eidur Gudjohnsen’s penalty had given them the lead midway through the second half, Neil Danns’ dismissal for a second yellow card meant the numbers were just stacked too heavily against them.

Raheem Sterling equalised four minutes before the end, Coutinho adding a winner in stoppage time.

While there was disappointment, there was also so much for Lennon to take pride in.

The Northern Irishman’s lack of options because of injury and unavailability are well documented but when Matt Mills lined-up as an emergency striker it wasn’t just Wanderers fans left scratching their head.

Within 10 minutes of kick-off, the captain’s name was trending on Twitter.

As Lennon predicted, the game was certainly a more open affair and the Whites gave just as good as they got in the first half.

Andy Lonergan was worked on a couple of occasions – most notably when he parried Raheem Sterling’s low shot then had to react quickly to dive on the ball ahead of Joe Allen.

But there was no sign in the early stages that Wanderers were rattled defensively, indeed David Wheater and Dorian Dervite both produced moments of composed work to deny the marauding Phillipe Coutinho, again Liverpool’s most potent attacking threat.

Wanderers’ best work came through Josh Vela in midfield; always available, always looking to slide a pass through. One marvellous piece of skill on the right touchline to flick the ball over his head was caught by the cameras and very nearly opened the visitors up.

Liam Feeney was also extremely bright, considering he looked out on his feet in the weekend draw against Wolves.

Hero of the last round, and Saturday, Zach Clough, rose to the occasion. The 19-year-old summed up the work which went into the first half by chasing from the Reds’ six yard box to put a challenge in on Lazar Markovic just past halfway to bring the home crowd to their feet.

Zach Clough was also busy early on but it was the old master Eidur Gudjohnsen who had the most clear-cut opportunity, lifting a left-footed shot over the bar from Vela’s cross in a similar fashion to the one he wasted at Anfield.

Wheater also got above the Liverpool defence to power a header at goal, blocked by Simon Mignolet, but otherwise it was all rather comfortable as the two sides completed 135 minutes of football without a goal.

Vela blotted his copybook slightly after the break as his errant pass was picked up by Coutinho and slipped through to Sterling – but again, Dervite’s timing was impeccable as he slid to make the tackle. The England striker did eventually manage a shot at goal but Lonergan pushed his effort aside.

And then on 58 minutes Winter Hill nearly erupted.

Wanderers broke quickly down the right with Feeney and when Mills’ header fell to Clough on the edge of the box, the youngster’s quick feet drew a challenge from Martin Skrtel sending him sprawling to the floor.

Roger East seemed to spend an eternity thinking about it, then pointed to the spot.

Gudjohnsen had bragged he’d never missed an important penalty when he netted one against Leeds last month, and oh boy did this fit that category.

But cool as you like the Iceman stroked the ball past Mignolet, and suddenly it looked possible.

Within eight minutes Wanderers were dealt the mother of reality checks.

Neil Danns had already picked up one caution for an over-exuberant challenge and when he tried to stem a Liverpool break with another mis-timed tackle on Joe Allen, he knew the writing was on the wall.

It was time to dig deep, for that famous FA Cup magic to kick in.

But rather than sit back and protect, Wanderers went on the attack.

Clough went close with a mazy dribble and shot before Gudjohnsen missed a glorious chance to make it two – heading straight at Mignolet at the far post after a great cross from Feeney.

From there on in it was hearts in mouths.

Sub Jordan Henderson had a shot deflected on to his own post by Wheater – an absolute giant at the back by this point.

Lonergan tipped a rocket from Emre Can on to the bar with eight minutes to go but moments later the defences were breached as Henderson’s pass picked out Sterling, and for the first time in nearly two full games against Bolton he got his angles right, drilling a volley into the bottom corner.

Suddenly that Gudjohnsen miss was looking costly.

The board went up for five minutes of added time – the official holding the ball confronted by a livid Lennon, snarling at how it had been so much.

But the Reds didn’t need the full quota. Just two minutes later Coutinho picked the ball up on the edge of the box, looked up, and curled a quite brilliant shot into the top corner.