Liverpool were ready for penalties, stresses Skrtel

Martin Skrtel has admitted that Liverpool practiced penalties ahead of Wednesday’s League Cup game against Carlisle United as a precautionary measure in case they would be unable to seal progress after 90 minutes or extra time.

Danny Ings gifted Liverpool the lead midway through the first half, but Derek Asamoah restored parity shortly after and Liverpool failed to net a second in the remainder of the game.

Liverpool thus needed penalties to seal their progress, with goalkeeper Adam Bogdan saving three attempts to send his side through.

“It was great for Adam. We’d practiced penalties the day before the game just in case – and it turned out we needed them to go through,” Skrtel told the official Liverpool website.

“Adam was good. It was his first game, his first game at Anfield, and he’s been doing well. In the penalties, he showed his quality.

“Obviously we expected it to be a different game, but as we know there is no easy game here in England.

“We had plenty of chances to score, but unfortunately we didn’t take them and the game finished with penalties – but we’re happy we went through. That showed we are mentally strong because it’s not easy to play for 120 minutes and then go to penalties.

“We won the game, so I think it was very important for us that we won. It can give us some confidence for the next game.”

After edging past Carlisle, Liverpool will now take on AFC Bournemouth at home in the fourth round.