Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson admits his young players may have blown their chance after their Carling Cup defeat to Northampton.

Hodgson apologised to Reds fans after the humiliation.

He said: "They (the players) will have to do a lot of work to get themselves back into favour, but it's early doors for some of them. Some of the players who played tonight are still quite young.

"But it's enough for me to say I am very disappointed and you can see that on my face. I did not expect to be sitting here having lost a penalty shootout, which is the worst possible way of losing matches I can assure you. I have lost a UEFA Cup final on penalties, so I know how bitter they are, what a lottery they are and what damage they can do to the players who miss them.

"It's one game. It's a very disappointing game but there are lots more games to play and I would expect these players to be very, very disappointed about their performance tonight, to learn from it, to bounce back and if they're going to be Liverpool players, to kick on from this very low point in everyone's career."