Brendan Rodgers refused to criticise Steven Gerrard for his rapid red card against Manchester United and believed his captain deserved credit for apologising to his fellow players, his manager and his supporters.
Gerrard, who came on as a half-time substitute in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat, was dismissed after 38 seconds for stamping on United midfielder Ander Herrera.
But Rodgers was adamant he did not blame the 34-year-old for Liverpool's first Premier League loss in three months and felt the midfielder's reaction may have been a consequence of irritation at his side's poor performance in the opening 45 minutes.
"It is big of someone when they do get sent off to come out and apologise," the Liverpool manager said in a news conference. "He was probably frustrated watching us, in the first half we didn't make a tackle. He was man enough to come out and apologise.
"He is a big-game player, a big-impact player. Unfortunately he got sent off. It was purely wanting to make an impact. He has made his apologies. Of course in a big game you suffer when you play with 10 men against 11
"He is a highly competitive player. He made a great challenge [on Juan Mata] when he came on. It was probably our first challenge of the game. I won't criticise him. He has been brilliant since I came here."
Rodgers does not believe centre-back Martin Skrtel should face retrospective action and a possible ban for an injury-time challenge on United goalkeeper David de Gea.
He said: "He is trying to get the ball. You see his foot up, that is a symbol when a player is just trying to get his toe on the ball because if he does that and the keeper brings him down, it is probably a penalty."
The result leaves Liverpool five points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with eight games to go. But even though their next match is away at the Emirates Stadium, Rodgers remained adamant his side can still finish in the top four.
He added: "It is a big challenge. But when I looked at the 10 games that were remaining, it was always going to be difficult to win all 10. We built in a loss and some draws. We hoped to win this game against a rival but it is still very much possible.
"There are five points between us and them [United]. We need to recover and use this as a springboard as we did when we last played them. We are more than capable of winning the next game."
Rodgers praised his team for their efforts with 10 men after Gerrard's departure, when Daniel Sturridge pulled a goal back for Liverpool.
He said: "In the second half, the players showed why we have been on the run with the character and the resilience. We were still in it right to the end. They take great credit from that. The first half cost us more than the second."