Liverpool head coach Arne Slot backed teenager Amara Nallo to bounce back from his disappointing senior debut in which he was shown a red card just four minutes after entering the pitch.

Substitute Nallo was dismissed for a last man challenge on Johan Bakayoko in Liverpool's 3-2 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. Despite the result, Slot's side still topped the league phase table, with nine first-team players having been rested for the trip to Philips Stadion.

Nallo was one of a number of young players to be given an opportunity against the Dutch champions and Slot is confident the 18-year-old will learn plenty of lessons from Wednesday's clash.

"It's cruel, but he'd never played first-team football yet and then to make a debut at Champions League level is probably the hardest way to make a debut," the Liverpool boss said. "I think he misinterpreted the situation and that's immediately a problem at this level or in Premier League.

"It's a big moment for him to learn from and it's cruel. You think 'I'm going to make my debut in the Champions League' and then a few minutes later you go off with a red card. That's always difficult.

"A career isn't always positive, there are also negatives and he has to fight very hard to make sure he plays a second Champions League game. It is not going to be easy, but hopefully he will."

While it was a challenging night for Nallo, 20-year-old James McConnell was among the young players to impress against Peter Bosz's side, and Slot was quick to heap praise on the midfielder after the game.

"At the moment, we have most of our players fit so we will have this discussion tomorrow I think between me and Richard (Hughes) about these players [who could go on loan] but there's definitely one that will not go out on loan: James McConnell.

"I liked him a lot today. Maybe the end result today would be good for him to go and play [elsewhere] but he is a player who hasn't played a lot in the last six or seven months as he was injured for a while. He impressed me a lot today.

"He is competitive in the training sessions we had, he is always very competitive. I'm not surprised [by how he played], but you always wonder how you will react at this level.

"James plays and is competitive. He definitely deserves credit for his performance today."

Asked about the significance of finishing the league phase top of the table, Slot added: "It's definitely a good achievement to end up top of this league. But I said many times it's hard to judge a table after eight games, let alone with the teams playing different opponents. It doesn't tell me much, some have faced easier opponents than others but it's always nice if there's a new format and you end up No. 1.

"But it doesn't give us any assurances for the next round. I see the four teams we can face and especially one of them is definitely one your are hoping not to face if you end up first in a group like this."