Jordan Henderson: 'Stoke City is best place for us to start our season'

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has claimed that there is no better place than Stoke City's home of the Britannia Stadium for the Reds to begin the season following their final-day hammering to the Potters.

The Merseyside outfit's last match of the 2014-15 campaign ended in a shock 6-1 defeat to Stoke.

Henderson believes that Liverpool's new recruits, which include Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke, will help push the team over the line when they return to the Potteries this Sunday.

"There couldn't be a better place for us to start and put what happened there last season to bed once and for all," Henderson told the club's official website.

"The lads who were playing that day will remember it for quite some time. It was a horrible day for everyone involved. We have a determination to do better and to improve as a team. We are focusing on the future and that is the first game at Stoke. They are a good team but so are we.

"We will be stronger with the new players that we have got. We are a young team but we have brought in quality. I think the quality we have added will make a big difference."

As well as Firmino and Benteke, manager Brendan Rodgers has signed James Milner, Danny Ings, Adam Bogdan, Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Clyne.