Dalglish praise for resolute Reds

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish heaped praise on his side for their determined 1-0 win over Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Reds legend said Dirk Kuyt’s 86th minute winner at Anfield was a well deserved one as the Merseysiders booked their place in the last 16 of the competition.

“We knew Sparta would be strong and physical, and they were,” he said.

“But the boys deserve great credit for their determination and effort and the pride they took in the club and themselves. That was rewarded with a goal, and I’m delighted we are through.”

“The only problem was with injuries. Martin Kelly felt a twinge at the top of his leg, Sotiris Kyrgiakos suffered a cut eye and Daniel Agger had to come off near the end. But at least that meant Joe Cole stayed on for the 90 minutes, and that won’t have done him any harm.”

Veteran Jamie Carragher eclipsed Ryan Giggs’ record of most European appearances by an English player in the last-gasp victory, and Dalgish paid homage to the defender’s value to the club.

“It sums up his contribution to this club. He has been a magnificent servant, and to walk away with a record like that speaks volumes for him and the success of this club. He is a credit to himself, the club and professional football in general,” he said.

Sparta manager Jozef Chovanec said he felt his side would have overrun the hosts had the match gone to extra-time.

“Aside from the result we played very well but it is very disappointing to concede a few minutes before the end,” Chovanec said.

“It was a goal from a corner. I didn’t see that as a great goalscoring opportunity and I think we could have shown more strength in extra time.”

“Liverpool had injured players coming off and I am disappointed we didn’t take it to extra time.”