Skrtel's joy ruined by defensive display

Martin Skrtel today admitted the joy of scoring his first Liverpool goal was taken away by the frustration of another costly defensive display.

The Reds flew out to Hungary this morning for the crucial Champions League fixture against Debrecen counting the costs of their inability to deal with set pieces. 
 
Manchester City were the latest side to take advantage of Liverpool's current defensive ills as they were gifted two openings that enabled them to snatch a 2-2 draw.
 
Skrtel was particularly disappointed with the header Emmanuel Adebayor scored to cancel out his opener, as the Slovak defender allowed the striker to drift away from him.
 
But Skrtel, who was breaking his duck at the 65th attempt, believes Liverpool showed enough character to suggest they can turn the tide - starting in Budapest tomorrow.
 
"It was my first goal for Liverpool but it didn't count for much as we didn't go on and win the game, so I'm very disappointed," said Skrtel, who joined the Reds from Zenit St Petersburg in January 2008.
 
"It's nice to have scored, as I have been here for nearly two years. I could have scored earlier in the game when Daniel (Agger) got injured.
 
"But I think it was a mistake by all three of us (in the middle to leave Adebayor alone). I don't know what happened but he was left all on his own and he scored too easily."
 
Liverpool were staring down the barrel of another damaging defeat when Stephen Ireland fired City in front but the visitors' joy was short-lived thanks to Yossi Benayoun.
 
It might have been easy for Liverpool to go under after Ireland's strike but Skrtel feels Rafa Benitez's side did more than enough to earn a share of the spoils.
 
Now he is looking forward to facing Debreceni and, with Agger having suffered a black eye and a cut which required six stitches, it is likely that Skrtel will retain his place.
 
"In the first half I felt that we did really well," he said. "Up until we scored the first goal, lots of our play had been really good.
 
"But after we scored the first goal, it was almost like we stopped playing. It was as if we were waiting and we ended up conceding two goals.
 
"Maybe did well to get back into the game but we couldn't score more (than City) so we are all frustrated. The only positive we take is that we showed good character as the team.
 
"We now have a big game coming up and we have to forget about City as Debrecen is a game we have to win. If I'm selected I will give my all to help get a good result."
 
Liverpool, meanwhile, have rubbished suggestions they are preparing a bid to bring Ruud van Nistelrooy to Anfield on loan in January.
 
The former Manchester United forward has found starts hard to come by at Real Madrid this season and wants a move ahead of the World Cup but he won't be signing for Liverpool.
 
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