KENNY DALGLISH is often a man of few words. And when asked how Stewart Downing responded to being left out of the team at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the Liverpool manager felt none were necessary.

“Did you see his face when Glen Johnson scored?” responds Dalglish. “Print that picture rather than me using any words to describe how he felt. It says more than I could say.”

The photograph shows Johnson wheeling away after scoring his dramatic late winner against Chelsea with a delighted Downing and jubilant Jordan Henderson in hot pursuit.

Despite costing upwards of £40million during the summer, neither Downing nor Henderson had started the game, emerging as late substitutes alongside club record signing Andy Carroll.

Yet rather than grump, they all bade their time to play a part. So too Maxi Rodriguez who, having waited until Sunday to make his first Premier League start of the season, contributed the opening goal from a pass by Craig Bellamy, another to spend much of the campaign on the bench.

And Dalglish has warned that anybody whose attitude slips below that standard can expect a short future at the club.

“That is always the strength of the squad – those who aren’t playing,” says the Liverpool manager. “That is where you get your success from.

“At the end of the day, it is hard for the ones who don’t play. It is hard to keep them motivated and to keep them going. That is understandable.

“If they come in with really good attitudes and not with petty lips when they are left out, it is helpful to everyone.