The summer signing is still looking for his first Premier League goal, and the defender is confident his hard work on and off the field will come good sooner rather than later

Liverpool’s players have full faith in striker Mario Balotelli, despite his poor start to life at Anfield, Martin Skrtel insists.

Balotelli endured another frustrating outing against Hull City on Saturday as missed chances and good saves from goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic helped Steve Bruce’s men escape Merseyside with a 0-0 draw.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has defended Balotelli, and Skrtel echoed his manager’s sentiments – claiming the striker’s colleagues retain confidence that he will come good.

“He is working hard and showed some good moments. Unfortunately we couldn’t score the goal. I feel sorry for him,” Skrtel told reporters.

“He is working hard in training, he is working hard in the game. He just hasn’t got the goals. We just believe in him. We will be supporting him and just hope he will start scoring.”

Liverpool were prevented from scoring for just the second time this season, but their own clean sheet was their second.

The shut-out was not enough to appease Skrtel, who lamented the fact two points had been dropped.

He added: “It’s nice to get a clean sheet but we didn’t get the three points, so that’s not good enough. We played football for the points. We could have won and it’s disappointing.”

The striker is yet to score in the Premier League since joining with AC Milan during the summer, and missed two more glorious opportunities during Saturday’s 0-0 draw

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was pleased with Mario Balotelli’s showing in Saturday’s goalless Premier League draw with Hull City.

The striker has struggled since joining from AC Milan, having found the net only once in 11 outings for the club, and faced further criticism after swapping shirts with Real Madrid Pepe at half-time on Wednesday.

Balotelli retained his place in Rodgers’ starting XI on Saturday but missed two glorious chances to score the winner, including one in the final moments at Anfield, but Rodgers was still content with what he saw.

“It was a big chance and we had one or two of those in the game but we couldn’t quite put the ball in the net,” Rodgers told reporters, referring to the late chance.

“I thought he worked very well and very hard. He maybe thought he wasn’t going to play today but you’ve got to stay with it. You’ve seen he is working hard and at the moment he is doing his best.

“Unfortunately it’s that wee bit of confidence, sometimes when you don’t get that goal, that he might lack a little. But he kept going, kept getting into the [right] areas and I thought he and Rickie Lambert worked well when [Lambert] came on.

“I’m a little bit frustrated we didn’t win the game but performance-wise I’m happy and our reaction to the midweek game.”

A win would have been Liverpool’s third top-flight victory in a row but the hosts were unable to break down a resolute Hull backline.

With the injured Daniel Sturridge some way off returning, Rodgers feels Balotelli’s workrate off the field will stand him in good stead to lead the line for Liverpool.

“I’ve only been working with him a short period of time and I gauge it first and foremost on the training field,” he continued.

“Sometimes, when it’s not going well, players will have a day when they don’t train or work. But he puts himself out to train every single day.

“He’s out there wanting to be better, wanting to improve. It’s just not quite happening for him in terms of [scoring].

“You saw today, he worked very hard. He knows he needs to run and work and press here. He was just unlucky really that he didn’t get the goal.”

Brendan Rodgers continued to keep faith with the Italy international but he again failed to find the back of the net as a miserable week for the Merseysiders ended in stalemate

Liverpool misfired again at Anfield as Hull City held on to secure a creditable point in Saturday’s Premier League clash.

Brendan Rodgers kept faith with Mario Balotelli and again started with him despite his disappointing performance against Real Madrid in midweek although the Italian failed to fire as Steve Bruce’s side held on for the draw.

More to follow…