Rodgers misses press conference after Liverpool narrowly avoid cup upset

Under-pressure Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers decided against facing the press after his side narrowly avoided a League Cup upset against Carlisle United on Wednesday night. Liverpool took the lead through Danny Ings in the first half but were forced to a penalty shoot-out after extra time following Derek Asamoah's equaliser. Adam Bogdan was the hero, saving three penalties as the hosts won the shoot-out 3-2. Rodgers, who has seen his side fail to win any of the last six games in normal time in all competitions, has come under scrutiny for recent results, with Carlo Ancelotti linked with the manager's job at Anfield. And the Northern Irishman sent assistant manager Gary McAllister to the post-match press conference at Anfield. When asked about Rodgers, McAllister said: "Like everybody, he's delighted to be through to the next round." Liverpool had 47 shots on goal against Carlisle and, despite only beating goalkeeper Mark Gillespie once, McAllister was pleased to see the Reds try their luck. "That is the positive [having nearly 50 shots]," he said. "The positives are that we're through to the next round and that we've had over 50 shots at goal and we've been asking the players to step forward and take a wee bit of the responsibility to take on the shot, and we had that tonight. We just didn't work the keeper enough."