Brendan Rodgers admitted he has not yet decided upon his central defensive partnership for the start of the season after Dejan Lovren kept a clean sheet alongside Martin Skrtel in Helsinki.

The Croatian has been given plenty of chances to cement his spot in the first-team over the course of the Reds' pre-season, but has responded with a number of unconvincing displays. 

Mamadou Sakho is another who could come in to partner 30-year-old Skrtel, but having been excluded from the 16-man squad that flew to Finland to take on HJK Helsinki on Saturday, supporters have began to believe Lovren will be the preferred option.

Yet Rodgers insisted that is not particularly the case, with Lovren - who endured a difficult first year on Merseyside after his £20 million move - not necessarily ahead of the Frenchman in the pecking order.

Centre-back positions not "totally decided" yet

The Liverpool boss said that it is a matter he has not "totally decided upon yet" though Lovren played in an eleven which is close to the team expected to start at Stoke City next week.

Rodgers said that he will "sit down with the staff" to assess the situation ahead of the trip to the Britannia Stadium, insisting that he will look for "consistency" which he labelled as key in a "critical" area of the pitch.

The Ulsterman, known to be an advocate of playing out from the back, explained how the central defenders are "tactical decision makers" and that the balance between attack and defence will be important for the Reds this season.

He insisted that they have had "too many" changes around the back-four over the last 12 months and that it has been disruptive to Liverpool's form.

Rodgers hoped that they will be "more consistent as a back-four" throughout the 2015-16 campaign, which begins in a weeks' time.

Gomez in line for Stoke starting spot

Another who could be included at Stoke could be summer signing Joe Gomez, who was in the side in the Finnish capital over Alberto Moreno - who only recently returned to the side after injury.

The 18-year-old has impressed throughout pre-season with a string of strong performances, and could be given his first-team bow at Stoke.

Asked whether he is likely to hand the 18-year-old his top-flight debut on the opening day, Rodgers replied that he wouldn't have any issues in doing so.

He said that his experience in handing players game-time "irrespective of the age of the player" shows that, and that quality and personality are the key factors will help him decide which young players are ready for the step-up.

"Whether they're 17, or 27, if I think they're ready, I will play them."