Dalglish: Liverpool ´fortunate´ in Braga loss

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish says his team is lucky to be going into the Europa League second leg against Sporting Braga only a goal down.

A first-half penalty from midfielder Alan gave the Portuguese side an important home win and inflicted Dalglish’s first loss as the English Premier League club’s manager in Europe.

Dalglish believes Liverpool are fortunate to be heading into the return leg only 1-0 down.

“It was a very poor first-half performance from ourselves,” he told Sky Sports.

“We picked it up a little bit in the second half and looked a bit more threatening, especially after Andy (Carroll) came on, and I think we were probably denied a stone-wall penalty ourselves.”

“To play the way we did in the first half and come away only one goal behind means we were very fortunate.”

In his second substitute appearance for the club, Carroll provided the Reds with some much-needed life when he was introduced in the 57th minute.

Dalglish was pleased with the striker’s performance and said helping him regain match fitness in his return from injury was a key.

“He worried them. We played better once he came on. He’s a good option for us,” Dalglish said.

“We’ve got to give him as many minutes as we can to make sure we’re making a contribution to getting him fit.”