Brendan Rodgers believes there were 'only positives' to take from Liverpool's 5-3 win over Young Boys and admits he took great pride in the performance.

Liverpool opened their Europa League group phase with a thrilling victory in Switzerland after Rodgers left most of his big-name players back on Merseyside. His faith in his rookies was rewarded as Andre Wisdom scored on his debut before substitute Jonjo Shelvey netted twice as the Reds came from 3-2 down to claim the points. The Reds boss told Sky Sports:

"We've come away with a young team into a European game and I want to talk about the five goals, which were absolutely magnificent. Of course, we could have defended better and the three goals we gave away were disappointing, but there are only positives from tonight. It was a chance for the young players to seize that opportunity to play and I think they took it."

Rodgers also praised the impact of Shelvey, who put the Reds 4-3 in front with a first-time finish before wrapping up the win with a run and fierce shot. The Liverpool boss added:

"I felt that it was the time of the game that we needed him and it worked well for us. Obviously once we got the equaliser they went to more 4-4-2 and that give us the extra man in midfield and we were able to dominate that wee bit more. It worked very, very well, he does what he can do very well and he's going to be a big player for Liverpool."

Liverpool next face a fierce fixture against Manchester United at Anfield. This will be the first game played at Anfield since the publication of the Hillsborough disaster report.