Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish challenges new signings Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson to prove their worth

The Scot watched Henderson and Downing make their Reds debuts during a disappointing 3-0 friendly defeat at Hull City, and wants to see more from his team.

“If they’re going to stake a claim for a first-team place, they’ve got to earn it. We’ve given them every opportunity to get themselves fit and try and earn that right to play in the first-team, but they’ll need to do better than that if they want it,” he told Liverpool’s official website.

“The lads are at various degrees of fitness for the matches. Someone like Jordan has only trained for a week, so it’s a bit too much to ask him to start the game.

“But we’ve got a couple of matches in the space of a few days at the end of next week and we’ll make sure as many people as we can get more minutes than they did today.

“They’re very comfortable. It’s an easy place to come and settle, it’s very welcoming, but they’ll not be too satisfied getting back on the bus after that.”

Goals from Robbie Brady, Robert Koren and Jay Simpson wrapped up a shock win for the newly relegated Championship side and Dalglish admitted there was still plenty of work to be done before the season starts.

“In the second half we made a few more chances. I think in the first half we had one shot at goal, which wasn’t too compelling to watch. But for us the second half was better,” he added.

“We still lost the second half 1-0, but we had three guys making their first appearances in a Liverpool shirt and they will get benefit from that.

“Obviously we’re disappointed at losing the game. It doesn’t matter whether it was a pre-season friendly or not, but the fact it is pre-season gives us a wee bit of solace.

He added: “We trained yesterday as if it was a game. Everybody ran about nine or 10 thousand metres, which is equivalent to what you do in a game, so it’s like playing a game and a half in two days.

“We also travelled over this morning and it’s not ideal, but I would have expected a wee bit better
than that.

“As I say, it is pre-season and it’s to get players fit and get rid of their mistakes – but I certainly think we’ve got a few mistakes to get rid of after today.”