Brendan Rodgers 'bitterly disappointed' with Liverpool defensive display

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his disgust at the way his side defended during their 3-1 defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

The Reds were ahead within the opening two minutes courtesy of a Steven Gerrard penalty, however Jonathan Walters capitalised on a slip by Martin Skrtel to level almost immediately.

Kenwyne Jones then headed home from a Glenn Whelan corner to complete the turnaround on 12 minutes, before Walters extended the Potters' lead early in the second half.

"We had a perfect start with our first penalty of the season," said Rodgers. "You couldn't ask for any more but we are very disappointed by how we defended.

"We have nobody to blame but ourselves, you have to defend better than that. We failed to control the game once we scored, we didn't deal with the first ball forward.

"To concede from a corner is bitterly disappointing. When you defend like that it's difficult to gain a result. Stoke are really committed to the cause - you know you get a difficult game against them, but we never took a foothold in the game and that's really disappointing."

Liverpool have conceded 26 goals in 19 Premier League matches this season - 12 more than Stoke, who boast the division's best defence.