Kolo Toure has insisted that fatigue won't play a part in tomorrow's game against champions Manchester City, despite a soul crushing penalty shootout defeat to Besiktas just 72 hours previously.

The Europa League loss to Besiktas was in stark contrast to the penalty joy Toure had experienced less than three weeks ago, when he was in the Ivory Coast team that beat Ghana 9-8 on penalties to win the Africa Cup of Nations.

Toure took, and scored, a penalty on that ocassion however wasn't called for in Thursday's shootout as fellow defender Dejan Lovren missed the decisive penalty.

"Penalties are hard with all the pressure at the end of the 120 minutes. I've missed penalties in the past and I know how he feels. Dejan is a top player and he will come back strong from this. He had a difficult start to the seaason but that was the same with a lot of the new players. He took the responsibility to takee the penalty and for me that's the most important thing. He's a strong character."

Liverpool were left to rue what could have been, as they exited a competition that guarantees a Champions League place for the winners. Toure sighed, "We defended well and with the one really good chance they created, they scored. Everyone feels sad because we wanted to go a long way in the competition but we just have to forget about what happened against Besiktas and move on."

That last sentiment is very true as Liverpool are straight back into the swing of things with the game against Manchester City kicking off at Sunday lunchtime. Toure played and won the league for City before joining Liverpool on a free, but is out to defeat his old side on Sunday as the Reds look to keep the pressure up on those above them.

"I'm not worried about the lack of preparation time. We will be ready. The manager will make sure that we are 100% for the game. For the top four it's going to be crucial. If we can beat City it would be a big step towards achieving that. We enjoy the challenge of going up against City. This team has been doing really well and we can't let one defeat affect us too much."