On this day: Portsmouth defender keen to prove Liverpool wrong

The defender was dreaming of scoring at Anfield for Pompey in their forthcoming Premier League clash.

He hoped it would show Reds boss Rafael Benitez exactly why he was wrong to let him go.

The Frenchman had been fired up for Pompey's trip to Merseyside since the fixtures were announced.

Benitez let Vignal leave Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of 2005 '“ even though the Frenchman never played for him.

The left-back played 20 games for Liverpool after being signed by Gerard Houllier as a teenager in 2000.

But injury cost him his place and he went on loan to Rennes, Espanyol and Rangers before joining Pompey.

Vignal, who nearly joined the Blues two years prior when Harry Redknapp was boss, told The News at the time: '˜Liverpool away. That's my game.

'˜If there's one game I want to score in, it's against Liverpool. That's my dream.

'˜The Liverpool game means everything to me. They were the club I joined when I first came to Eng land from Montpellier.

'˜I won three trophies with them. I played my first Premier League game with Liverpool, my first Champions League game with Liverpool and my first UEFA Cup game with Liverpool. Everything.

'˜It will be an important day.

'˜Do I have something to prove to Liverpool? Yes and no.

'˜I don't have anything to prove to myself, but I want to prove something for my team-mates, the staff and the chairman. That's why it will be an important day.'