• Football

Jonjo Shelvey apologises to fans after mixed night

Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has apologised to fans after his mistakes led to both Liverpool's goals in the 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium.

Shelvey, who joined Swansea from Liverpool for £5 million over the summer, put his side ahead after two minutes but then two sloppy passes allowed Liverpool to go into the break 2-1 up. He later made amends by setting up Michu's equaliser.

"I just want to say sorry to the fans for the two bad mistakes that gifted Liverpool a draw," Shelvey said. "You just want to go into a hole where nobody can see you when you give the ball away for the other team to score, but it has happened to great players over time. I still feel I have given Liverpool a draw but it was a great game to play in."

Swansea boss Michael Laudrup was quick to give Shelvey his backing. "When you do that you go from heaven to hell in just a couple of minutes, scoring a goal in a very important game for you after two minutes but then you give away a goal - and another one with a ball lost.

"I told him [at half-time] 'there are still 45 minutes, you have to learn from this and pull yourself together', and I think he did great. He will become stronger out of this, his reaction in the second half was excellent."

Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers said that he "is an outstanding young player, but he knows he has things in his game he needs to improve on … he will only do that from playing [and] tonight was a steep learning curve for him".

Download ESPN's new UK sport app, a fresh and powerful new way to follow your favourite UK sports news, scores and video.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd