Brendan Rodgers has denied reports of issues in the Liverpool dressing room.

“Our dressing room is very strong,” said Rodgers. “We are very fortunate to have a captain who is a strong leader in dressing room and that has been very important during my time here. Unrest is totally untrue. Of course we are unhappy at not winning games, these are competitive players who almost won the league last year and they won’t be happy at losing because they are competitive people. Our spirit is very strong and, once we get that break, we will show that.”

Former Liverpool captain Paul Ince has claimed Balotelli should be sold as he could be a disruptive influence on Rodgers’ squad. But the manager responded: “At the moment you hear a lot of opinions about Liverpool. Paul is someone I respect as a wonderful player and he managed himself so he knows the pressures of management. Mario is here and my job is to maximise what I can get out of Mario, and it’s the same with every player.”