LIVERPOOL – Brendan Rodgers defended his side’s performance and effort following Liverpool’s shock 2-0 loss against West Bromwich Albion at Anfield on Monday evening.Rodgers’ men dominated possession, but goals to Gareth McAuley and Romelu Lukaku saw the visitors claim all three points and surge above their opponents into eighth position on the Premier League table. However, Rodgers is refusing to panic."The players gave everything,” he told Sky Sports. "It was one of those games where we just couldn’t make the breakthrough."The longer the game goes on the more likely it is that they nick one. I can’t fault the players efforts today, it was just one of those games where we couldn’t get the first goal."We weren’t at our best but we were certainly on the front foot and looking to create. Full credit to West Brom, [Ben] Foster’s made some brilliant saves.Foster was certainly the standout for West Brom, denying Gerrard on more than one occasion, and later stated the victory may help Albion secure a spot in Europe next season.