Joe Cole admits that Liverpool were left frustrated at the weekend after a lack of ruthlessness cost them the chance to secure successive league victories for the first time since December 2011.

The midfielder returned to action after picking up an injury on the opening day of the season and was hoping to make an impression under new manager Brendan Rodgers.

Joe Cole
Cole returned to action in the draw with Stoke [Reuters]

Cole returned to the club after a season-long loan at Lille and will now be keen to help the side turn their fortunes around after a difficult start to the season in which they have won just one league game.

There was a first clean sheet in the league this season and while Cole was critical of the finishing, he believes the squad is slowly improving and that there are positives to take from the display.

"There was a bit of frustration in the dressing room after the Stoke game," Cole told the official Liverpool website. "We felt we should have won the game with the chances we had.

"The only criticism of us that I would have was that we didn't stick the ball in the back of the net. We just lacked that final bit [in front of goal]. We have two weeks now to work on it and we're looking forward.

"There's a lot to work on but we have got to take the positives out of today; we didn't get beat and we kept a clean sheet, which was important as we haven't kept one for a long time. Now we just need to kick on.

"I know a lot of the lads are away [on international duty] but we have got two weeks to keep going, keep working on things, getting in and around the box and picking the right pass.

"Hopefully we can get three points at home to Reading and then we can go to Goodison and get a result."

Liverpool are currently in 14<sup>th place and have managed to secure just six points from their opening seven Premier League fixtures.

They will also face a stern test when they make the short journey to Everton in a couple of week as David Moyes' team have enjoyed an impressive start to the season and are currently in fourth place with 14 points.