Town manager George Burley named Andy Marshall as his Town Man of the Match even despite his conceding six goals. Perhaps only the first was the keeper's fault and, according to Burley, he kept the visitors' score down.

Burley said: "We knew it would be tough. Liverpool are a fantastic side who won their last away match 4-0 at Leeds, but naturally we are disappointed with the scoreline. In the first half we matched them and were unfortunate to be 2-0 down at the break. The first goal was poor marking at a corner and you cannot afford to give bad goals away against a team like Liverpool."

Burley pointed to his side giving the ball away too often as one factor in allowing Liverpool four more goals in the second period: "In the second half we had spells of possession but gave it away again and in the end we were fortunate to get away with 6-0 as they created so many chances. [Michael] Owen and [Emile] Heskey are two of the best strikers in the world who are on top of their form, but fortunately you don't come across them too often."

The Town boss says it is tricky to get back against Liverpool after allowing them to go ahead: "You really can't afford to go behind against Liverpool because they are so dangerous at hitting you on the break. I think the players were a little overawed, not in the first half but in the second. Our best player was the goalkeeper and that shows you how we played."

Phil Thompson, stand-in boss for the Reds was unsurprisingly happy with his lads: "It was a fantastic all-round team display and a great performance. We played very well last week in the win at Leeds, but today they were fantastic. It's easy to take your foot off the pedal, but the thing that impressed me the most was the work-rate. Even before we scored the first goal we could have been a couple of goals up, we got the second at an important time. I told the lads at half-time that the next goal would be the most important and they went out and got it early in the second half and did the business."

Town are now down to 13th place, but are still five points away from the relegation zone. The Blues now have no match until the Southampton match on March 2nd.

Photo: Action Images

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