Dalglish Disappointed By Defeat

Kenny Dalglish admitted he was disappointed by Liverpool's surprise 3-0 defeat at Hull City on Saturday.

Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Alexander Doni all made their debuts for Liverpool, but they could not prevent the Reds from slumping to their first defeat of pre-season.

Hull picked up a confidence-boosting win thanks to goals from Robbie Brady, Robert Koren and Jay Simpson and Dalglish admits he expected better from his troops at the KC Stadium.

"Obviously we're disappointed at losing the game. It doesn't matter whether it was a pre-season friendly or not, but the fact it is pre-season gives us a wee bit of solace," said Dalglish.

"We trained on Friday as if it was a game. Everybody ran about nine or 10 thousand metres, which is equivalent to what you do in a game, so it's like playing a game and a half in two days.

"We also travelled over yesterday morning and it's not ideal, but I would have expected a wee bit better than that.

"As I say, it is pre-season and it's to get players fit and get rid of their mistakes - but I certainly think we've got a few mistakes to get rid of after today.

"In the second half we made a few more chances. I think in the first half we had one shot at goal, which wasn't too compelling to watch. But for us the second half was better.

"We still lost the second half 1-0, but we had three guys making their first appearances in a Liverpool shirt and they will get benefit from that.

"It was an extension of our training sessions this week and starting from now we've got to get ourselves a wee bit more realistic (in terms of fitness)."

Dalglish claims Downing, Henderson and Doni have all settled in well to life at Liverpool, but he concedes they will not be happy to taste defeat on their first appearances for the club.

"They're very comfortable. It's an easy place to come and settle, it's very welcoming, but they'll not be too satisfied getting back on the bus after that," added Dalglish.