Brendan Rodgers: Stoke City defeat was "my worst day in football"

Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he remains haunted by Liverpool's 6-1 defeat by Stoke City last season, but has suggested that his troops are ready to atone for it on Sunday.

The Reds kick off their 2015-16 campaign by returning to the scene of that end-of-season mauling at the Britannia Stadium in May - a result which Rodgers says was his "worst day in football".

The defeat represented the Merseysiders' worst in 52 years, and the Northern Irishman says that his men are determined to make amends for it this weekend.

"That was my worst day in football by a long way. I don't think any of my teams have ever conceded that number of goals," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"It was the lack of fight and the character on the day. Listen, there were great lessons learned from that from a collective and a personal perspective. I take total responsibility for it.

"I am sure the supporters – rightly so – were absolutely devastated by that result. It makes us even more determined to put it right. I don't want to experience anything like that again in my career."

The result was also Steven Gerrard's final Liverpool appearance before jetting off to join Los Angeles Galaxy.