Kenny pleased with Suarez debut

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was delighted new signing Luis Suarez was able to mark his debut with a goal in front of the Kop in the 2-0 victory over Stoke.

Leading through Raul Meireles' strike early in the second half, Suarez came off the bench just past the hour and opened his account 17 minutes later. The Uruguay striker's dream debut obviously grabbed the headlines and Dalglish had nothing but praise for the £22.8million signing.

"I am delighted for him - and for Raul for getting the first goal," said the Scot. "He had not even had the opportunity to train with us because of administrative stuff which had to be sorted out. When he starts training with the lads I think we might see an improvement."

Suarez's shot after rounding goalkeeper Asmir Begovic finished in the back of the net courtesy of an attempted clearance from Andy Wilkinson which rebounded off the post. However, Dalglish said there was no doubt in his mind who the goalscorer was.

"I gave him it. It was going in," he added. "It is a great start to score on your debut and he worked hard and him and Dirk Kuyt linked up well a couple of times."

On the three-man defence he employed to specifically combat Stoke he added: "They are a difficult team to play against - you have to compete against them first and then you have to get our own game going.

"Soto (Kyrgiakos) was brilliant for us. His presence and the way he commanded nearly everything which came in the box was great and when we were under pressure he was there as well. Three clean sheets is always a bonus and a help."

Stoke manager Tony Pulis was more than happy for Suarez to claim the goal.

"If I was Kenny, if he (Suarez) was half-a-yard anywhere near the ball I'd be saying it was his goal," he said. "We are quite happy for the lad to have it."

On the game itself he added: "We did okay for the first half but to concede just after half-time knocked us. But up until the second goal I thought we were in the game."