Liverpool midfielder Stewart Downing believes the Reds deserved at least a point from their visit to Stoke on Saturday.

Stoke won the match 1-0 courtesy of a controversial 21st minute penalty from Jonathan Walters at the Britannia Stadium.

It was Liverpool's first defeat of the season under Kenny Dalglish but Downing felt it could have been very different had the Reds not had penalty appeals of their own waved away.

"I thought we played some decent football," Downing told Liverpoolfc.tv. "We were unlucky and on another day we would have put our chances away, but it wasn't to be.

"I'm not sure whether it was a penalty or not for their goal, but maybe we should have had one ourselves.

"I played the ball to Luis [Suarez], and although I couldn't see the incident from where I was standing, the lads were saying it was a stonewall handball afterwards."

Liverpool are next in action in the Premier League when they travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham on Sunday, September 18.