Rodgers has ‘no concern’ about Mario’s ability to handle provocation

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers insists he has "no concern" about Mario Balotelli and that the controversial Reds striker does not need any kind of protection from provocation.

Rodgers will have been delighted to see Balotelli get on the scoresheet in Tuesday’s 2-1 Capital One Cup win over Swansea, the Italy international making the desired impact as a late substitute by prodding home an 86th-minute equaliser to break his eight-match goal drought.

But Balotelli was also involved in two other notable incidents, the first coming pre-match when he was sent away from a warm-up exercise by Liverpool coach Mike Marsh — which assistant boss Colin Pascoe, amid reports it had been due to the player messing around, stressed was only because he had sustained a minor knee problem.