Downing: We Deserved More

Stewart Downing believes Liverpool have every right to feel frustrated at the manner of the defeat to Stoke City on Saturday - but insists there are positives to be derived from their performance.

The Reds slipped to a narrow 1-0 loss courtesy of Jon Walters's 21st minute penalty after Jamie Carragher was adjudged to have brought down the Potters forward inside the box.

However, Kenny Dalglish's side dominated the contest at the Britannia Stadium and had strong spot-kick appeals of their own waved away when Luis Suarez's cross struck the hand of Matthew Upson as the game edged towards its conclusion.

"I thought we played some decent football," Downing told Liverpoolfc.tv. "We were unlucky and on another day we would have put our chances away, but it wasn't to be.

"I'm not sure whether it was a penalty or not for their goal, but maybe we should have had one ourselves.

"I played the ball to Luis, and although I couldn't see the incident from where I was standing, the lads were saying it was a stonewall handball afterwards.

"It was frustrating, but credit to Stoke, they made it hard for us."

Liverpool applied heavy pressure to Stoke's goal for the entire second half as they went in search of what would have been a deserved equalizer.

The Reds can consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken at least a point back to Merseyside - and Downing feels they can take heart from a dominant display.

Downing added: "The manager said to us after the game to keep doing what we're doing.

"I don't think there was a lot wrong with our performance - we played quite well.

"Stoke is a difficult place to go, but at times we played some good football and cut through them.

"It was 'one of those days' and we couldn't hit the net, but hopefully we'll be able to do it at Tottenham next week. We've just got to keep doing the same things.

"We're frustrated, but it was positive that we were able to create chances, were still passing and moving, and trying to do the right things.

"We were unlucky, but we've just got to keep doing the same things."