Kuyt Relishing Mersey Battle

Liverpool's Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt is eager to forget about the disappointing Stoke draw by beating neighbours Everton this weekend.

Dirk Kuyt is the only player to have ever scored two penalties in the same Merseyside derby game and is looking forward to another battle when the two neighbours face each other this weekend.

Kuyt says the team was disappointed to have dropped points to Premier League new boys Stoke City but insists the best way to get over it is to beat Everton.

"It was frustrating against Stoke but we have to look forward," Kuyt told the club's official website. "In a season you will have games like that. It was a good performance, we just forgot to score goals and on another day it could have been three or four nil. It just didn't happen for us."

"You can always look back at games but I think it's better to instead look forward to our next match at Everton. If we win on Saturday we'll have made a really good start to the season. We'd have beaten Manchester United and enjoyed other good results home and away. A lot of positive things have happened so far this season so there's nothing gained by being negative."

"We wanted a good start to the season and so far we've had one. Now we have to keep going and keep winning games," he added.

Regarding the brace he recorded over Everton in the corresponding fixture last season he said: "That was a real highlight of my career so far. I had never taken two penalties in a game before, and certainly not in a big derby with one of them being in the last minute to win the game."

"You can look back now and talk about how important that moment was and how much pressure was on me, but at the time all I was focusing on was scoring the goal. It was an unbelievable game and for me to score the two goals was really special," he continued.

"These games are always different but I think the important thing is to enjoy them. You sometimes don't get too many opportunities in your career to play in these kind of matches so you should make the most of them.

"It's a really important game for us and we know what it means for the fans. We had two good results against Everton last season so hopefully we can do the same again," he concluded.