Liverpool midfielder James Milner has admitted that he and his teammates are happy to play ugly if it means that they pick up maximum points.

The Merseyside outfit struggled to find the breakthrough in their opening Premier League game against Stoke City on Sunday.

It took an 86th-minute strike from Philippe Coutinho to separate the two sides at the Britannia Stadium.

Milner, who is one of seven new signings to join Anfield this summer, also claimed that the new boys need time to blend into the team.

"It is always about the results," The Guardian quotes Milner as saying. "If we played rubbish every game of the season and won every one of them, then everybody would be happy with that.

"It takes time for players to gel and there has been a lot of new arrivals, not just on the pitch but in the coaching staff, too. There is a lot of quality there, a lot of younger guys, so there are going to be games when we have ups and downs but that is football. It is going to be like that all season."

The 29-year-old, who signed for Liverpool from Manchester City on a free transfer, was made vice-captain by manager Brendan Rodgers last week.