Stoke City 1 Liverpool 0: Dalglish takes measured approach after Reds’ loss

The Reds boss was unhappy with a number of incidents in their reverse at Stoke, their first Barclays Premier League defeat of the season.

Jon Walters’s 20th-minute penalty was the result of one of the deicisions which Dalglish questioned.

Liverpool also had claims for a spot-kick turned down by referee Mark Clattenburg, the most reasonable when Luis Suarez’s cross late in the game hit the arm of Matthew Upson.

While other Premier League managers would come out ranting and raving and firing off complaints, Dalglish wants to take a more considered approach and will consult with principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner of Fenway Sports Group.

“We would like to be respectful to referees – and I’d like to think I have been – but more importantly than being respectful to the referees is having respect for my football club,” he said.

“If I feel they are suffering in any shape or form I will need to go the same route other people go and see if we can gain some benefit from that.

“The first four league games have had contentious decisions in them and every one has gone against us.

“I’ll speak to the owners first and see what they say because the last thing I want to do is for my behaviour to impinge on the club’s success in any way.”

Dalglish stressed he had no issues with the way Stoke had played and praised their determination and resilience.

But he felt his side should have got more from a match they dominated and said he did not think Jamie Carragher had fouled Walters for the spot-kick award.

“I think it is a bit of an understatement to say we deserved something from the game,” added the Scot. “We can only do what we can do ourselves, sometimes other things are taken outside your jurisdiction.

“If we continue to play with the same attitude and commitment then we will be okay this season.

“But if we continually get battered by things outside of our control we are not going to get much chance.

“We don’t have any complaint about Stoke; they played hard and played well, they got the goal and defended courageously at times and maybe at times they got a bit of luck.

“We don’t have anything but appreciation for the way they played and the way they held on to win the game.

“There is nothing for me to say which is anything other than complimentary to Tony and Stoke.

“But I just cannot see how it is a penalty kick.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: “I think Kenny will be as biased (to his team) as I am to Stoke.

“I respect his opinion and whether the decisions were (less than impartial) or not I don’t know.

“We were pretty poor in possession of the ball and we are better than that but we were top drawer off the ball.

“We stopped them playing, although I thought Suarez up front was fantastic.”

Everton fan Walters took great delight in scoring Stoke’s winner Stadium but was quick to pay tribute to the rearguard action which secured all three points.

The Wirral-born 27-year-old smashed home the 20th-minute penalty which gave the Potters back-to-back home league wins over the Reds for the first time since 1968.

Having missed from the spot at Norwich late last month, the Republic of Ireland international took no chances as he drilled his shot straight down the middle.

“I said to myself if I win another one I’ll get up and take it and there was no putting it in the corner, it would be straight down the middle,” he said.

Inflicting Liverpool’s first defeat of the campaign was particularly sweet for a player from an Evertonian family.

“It’s a Blue family so they are all happy,” added Walters, who was born in Moreton.

“The majority of my family are Evertonians, although my wife’s father is a Red. I’m a bit happier because I’m a Blue.

“A goal’s a goal but it is always sweet to score against Liverpool really.

“My brother was here – he’s a Blue and he was made up.”

From the moment the home side went ahead they found themselves on the back foot, particularly in the final 20 minutes, but their resilience held to make it eight matches unbeaten this season in all competitions.

That was partly due to the determination of Stoke’s goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and centre-backs Ryan Shawcross and Upson.

Between them, in one crazy 15-second spell midway through the second half, they blocked three shots from Jordan Henderson and two efforts from Charlie Adam.

“They made it difficult for us. We soaked up a lot of pressure and got a bit of luck along the way,” said Walters.

“How Ryan’s not getting called into the England squad I don’t know.

“He played against Suarez and Andy Carroll and coped with everything they threw at him.

“The spirit within the camp is first class, we’re all there for each other.

“We’ve won six and drawn two and it’s been first class all the way through and Saturday epitomised us in the way we defended.

“We put bodies on the line and there was some great defending to keep a clean sheet.

“That is what we are all about and the new boys (Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios both made their debuts while Cameron Jerome was an unused substitute) who have come in have taken that on board and carried it through.”