Dalglish reveals selection dilemma
Kenny Dalglish admits Liverpool's performance in the victory at Stoke City has left him with a big selection headache ahead of Saturday's trip to West Brom.
The boss made eight changes to his line-up for the Carling Cup showdown with the Staffordshire outfit and was left delighted by the contribution of everyone who featured in the 2-1 success.
Dalglish insists the strength of his squad means he is faced with a difficult decision ahead of every match but concedes that the nature of the triumph has left him with food for thought going into the meeting with the Baggies.
Dalglish said: "I think we alluded to it immediately after the game; how pleased we were with the effort and commitment of the players. If they hadn't have approached the game in that way then they wouldn't have got anything out of it.
"They did fantastically well. We are very pleased with the work that they did. Sometimes some of the hard work that they put in goes unrecognised, but they certainly had to put in a very good shift to win the match."
He added: "Every game you go into gives you a selection problem. I suppose there is a wee bit more added to that after we got such a positive result at Stoke City, and after playing so well. It's a nice position to be in.
"The more players we have to pick from then the better chance we have of being successful. We are delighted, like we have said many times before, with the strength of the squad and the effort and the commitment from them all.
"They got their reward the other night. The boys who don't play as often went out there and did very well. It does give you a problem for the next game."
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The Reds created a whole raft of chances at the Britannia Stadium but looked like suffering a similar frustration to the one they faced at home to Norwich when Stoke took the lead on the stroke of half-time.
A second-half double from Luis Suarez ensured Dalglish was not left lamenting missed opportunities once again and he is confident his team will improve their conversion ratio sooner rather than later.
"I suppose everybody is a bit more conscious of it. It's not just the one game against Norwich, we had it the game before against United too when we should have won the game and missed a couple of chances," he said.
"The most important thing for us is to be creating chances.
"We try to cover every option that we can, but you cannot replicate what happens on the pitch. To be fair, the boys went out on Wednesday night and created another six really good chances in the first half. They got their reward by winning the match.
"We'll continue to do our best to create chances and see where that takes us."
Liverpool head to West Brom on Saturday looking to return to winning ways following back-to-back home draws in the league.
Dalglish has enjoyed great success on his previous visits to the Hawthorns - but points to last season's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Roy Hodgson's men as proof that records will count for nothing when the two sides lock horns tomorrow.
"I don't think played one, lost one is a good record is it? That's what we have got recently," he quipped.
"You don't get your reward for tomorrow because of what happened last year, you get what you get for what you do on the day. We know it's a difficult place to go and that the onus is on ourselves to put in a decent performance. If we do that, we'll take our chances with anybody."
He continued: "I think they lost three or four out of the first four or five games.
"Like I say, we got beat there last year so we know what we are up against. Every game is different and we're hoping this one will be different as well. We can only prepare ourselves the best we can. Roy will do the same for his team. They've picked up well after an unsteady start and are sitting there very comfortably."
West Brom will be without Republic of Ireland star Shane Long for the clash with the Reds but Dalglish insists the hosts will still have enough in their armoury to challenge his side.
"I'm sure they have a few who can come in and replace him," he said. "They will be disappointed as he was a big signing in the summer but it gives someone else an opportunity."
Dalglish was also asked about racism in football.
He added: "It has to be proved before you accuse. I don't think it's prevalent in the game here and certainly not at this football club.
"We've got a case going on ourselves which seems to be dragging its feet. We'd rather have it done and dusted.
"Whoever the guilty party is; the person who said it or the accuser should get their rightful punishment. So we'll look forward to ours coming to a conclusion. But I don't see racism, as far as this club is concerned anyway, apparent in any way, shape or form."