Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers defends selection against Anzhi Makhachkala

Brendan Rodgers defended his selection policy after fielding a weakened team as his Liverpool side went down to a 1-0 defeat to Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa League.

Terrific

With the team having an average age of just under 24, Rodgers praised his young stars and believes the experience will benefit them in the future. He added: "Tactically our concentration was very good. We controlled the game for 44 minutes and 50 seconds of the first half "We made a bad mistake and got punished and that is the level. "Some of the young players were terrific and we are disappointed not to have got something from it. "I thought the performance level was good on a difficult pitch but I thought the players played the system tactically very well. "We just find ourselves unfortunate not to get something from a very difficult place." Anzhi manager Guus Hiddink was happy to gain revenge for their defeat at Anfield a fortnight ago. "They had a young side but that does not mean they were not experienced as some of those players play frequently in the Premier League," he said. "They were good players, skilful players who were tactically good. "They tested us but we also have some young players so it's a good result for us. "We didn't finish it off in the second half, we had two big opportunities, but it was an interesting game on a very bad pitch. "They tested us so we have to be happy with this result."