Joe Rafferty left frustrated after Preston North End's defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup

Goals from Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi saw the Premier League giants home, but that did not tell the full story of the contest.

PNE had their fair share of chances and certiainly had the better of them in the first 45, with Brad Potts and Saen Maguire in particular going close.

The use of Tom Barkhuizen's pace against the Reds' high line was a threat for the Lilywhites who looked dangerous in front of a packed out Deepdale.

Rafferty acknowledges that a result was unlikely against a powerhouse in the footballing world but did feel like his side may have got one on another day.

He said: "I feel like we did well, obviously we got beat which is never good but we feel a bit frustrated if anything.

"I know we were camped in, which was always going to happen, they're a great team.

"We had some good chances and if we put them away it's a different game, like every game.

"We look at their goals and they're scruffy, we haven't been torn apart or anything like that.

"Overall, we're frustrated in the end.

"We knew how the game was going to pan out, we knew they would have all of the possession, we just knew that we could probably hit them on the counter attack. Once they push the full backs up we could probably hit them down the side with Barkhuizen's pace.

"It kind of worked for us, we got Potts in there and a couple of good chances. If they go in, we could end up coming out with something. At the end of the day, it hasn't and they're a top team and ended up beating us.

"It was a good setup having runners from deep, as the midfielders will tell you it's one of the hardest runs to track.

"You don't know when someone is going to take off. I think it works well, especially with Potts' legs - he can run for days. He's got his chance and he was a bit unlucky."

The 28-year-old is a boyhood Liverpool fan and captained them at youth level.

He earmarked Wednesday's clash as one he wanted to make sure he featured in, having seen league game time limited - though he was added into the 25-man squad.

"I was made up, as soon as the draw was done," he said.

"I know I haven't been playing much in the league but I've just kept my head down and remained focused.

"I'm ready for every game but I had this game in mind, that it would probably be my next game and I made sure I was ready for it."

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