Roy Hodgson admitted he was delighted with his young stars after Liverpool claimed a goalless draw against Napoli in Italy on Thursday night.

The Reds battled to a point at the Stadio San Paolo to put themselves in a strong position to secure a passage into the knockout phase of the tournament after the result left them top of Group K.

Afterwards, Hodgson spoke of his pride at the way starlets such as Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Kelly, David Ngog and Jay Spearing stepped up after the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres had been left behind on Merseyside to prepare for the Blackburn game.

He told his post-match press conference: "It was a very positive performance in many respects and a good point - a point maybe many people didn't think we would be capable of getting here with the team selected.

"But the team proved people wrong in that respect and their efforts on the field were very commendable. I don't think we should be anything other than delighted with the fact we played well, got the point and are still top of the table.

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"All of us in this group are going to be required to do that (rest players) if we're going to take the league serious, in particular for Napoli and ourselves in important leagues, we need to make certain we use the players at our disposition. If your squad is any good, the players will be able to step up and deal with it.

"That was definitely the case for us tonight. We stepped up to the plate and dealt with it. A lot of players, like Jonjo Shelvey, we're doing so for the very first time and we did it in a very tough atmosphere. Napoli is a difficult place to come and play at any time.

"Tonight we have to be satisfied with a good result after a good performance and I think we deserved it."

Meanwhile, journalists asked Hodgson for his thoughts on the crowd disturbances that took place.

He replied: "I was aware and I was also concerned. These supporters have done a fantastic job in coming to Napoli - it was always going to be tough asking them to come to Napoli, many of whom were the same ones who came with us to Trabzon.

"All I can say is how grateful we are for their support and we are sad and sympathetic to hear several of them got attacked. I hope they are not seriously injured and able to go back home without having too many bad memories. These are things we don't want to see in football."