Henderson proud of teammates after shootout defeat
Jordan Henderson was full of pride in his teammates at the end of the Capital One Cup final, despite Liverpool's heartbreaking defeat on penalties to Manchester City.
The Reds fought valiantly at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, coming back from a goal down with just seven minutes of the 90 remaining before carving out a number of opportunities to clinch the cup in extra-time.
But their efforts were not rewarded, as Willy Caballero's heroics between the sticks in the shootout ensured City got their name on the trophy.
The result did not cloud the captain's assessment of the performance, however, even if his disappointment over not repaying the incredible support from the travelling Kop was clear.
When asked if he had a message for fans after the game, Henderson told Liverpoolfc.com: “We would like to say sorry for not winning the game and we are very disappointed.
"But at the same time I am very proud of my teammates because I felt as though we gave everything, we left everything out on the field, and that’s all you can ask.
“To lose on penalties is bitterly disappointing but someone has got to win. But we can take a lot of positives and hopefully the next time we are here we can lift the trophy."
The No.14 also took solace from the incredible work-rate shown by his colleagues throughout, and the fact they carved out chances to win the cup in the latter stages of a hard-fought fixture.
"Maybe not [in] the 90 minutes but definitely in extra-time I felt as though we could have got the win," he added.
"I know they had some good chances as well and Simon [Mignolet] did brilliantly and made some good saves to keep them out.
"[But] I felt as though we were very dangerous on the counter-attack, we defended well and there were some brilliant performances from everyone really.
"Like I said it’s hard to take at the minute and tonight will be difficult but we need to take the positives out of this game and finish off the season well.
"You look at the players they were all drained physically, mentally – everything was left out there and I think that’s all you can ask of the players. With a little bit of luck we win the game and lift the trophy, but it just wasn’t our day."
The Reds have little time to dwell on their defeat, with City set to visit Anfield on Wednesday for a Barclays Premier League clash that presents an instant opportunity for revenge.
And Henderson hopes that fixture can kick-start a strong finish to the season in which Jürgen Klopp's team take the positives from a chastening day at the national stadium.
"I’m just very proud of all of my teammates and I feel as though they [will] learn from this experience," he continued.
"I’m very confident of that and I hope we can show that.
"We have to keep working hard to keep improving and if we put in performances like that we will win a lot more than we lose and I hope we can finish off the season strongly."