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BRENDAN RODGERS insists Mario Balotelli was right to take the penalty which settled Liverpool's Europa League clash with Besiktas at Anfield.

The Italian striker sparked controversy when he took the ball off stand-in captain Jordan Henderson, who had taken responsibility after Jordon Ibe had been brought down in the box.

Balotelli was accused of being “disrespectful” to Henderson by injured captain Steven Gerrard but Rodgers says the £16million man was the designated penalty taker once he had come off the bench.

“If those three (Gerrard, Henderson and Balotelli) are on, you have Steven and Mario as your top two,” Rodgers said.

“Neither of them were on (from the start) so we had to nominate someone. Jordan was the penalty taker.

“But when we got the penalty Mario was on the field. Jordan being someone with responsibility and trust gave the penalty to Mario. There was no issue. There was a bit of a kerfuffle around it because they wanted to make sure he was happy to take it but that's it really.

“If you are the vice-captain and the captain comes off the bench it's the etiquette to go and give him the armband. For me it's a similar thing with the penalty.

“If Steven is on the field there is no drama as he takes the penalty. He's the first choice penalty taker.

“After that if Mario is on the field he takes the penalty. His history shows he has scored nearly 30 penalties in big games. He's an outstanding penalty taker.

“If Jordan and Steven and Mario are on the pitch at the same time it would be Steven and Mario as the penalty takers. When neither of them were on, Jordan was the nominated taker. With Mario on the field in a pressure situation, Jordan was happy to take it. But he gave it to Mario, who got his goal and there was no drama.”

Rodgers admitted he was unhappy at the sight of his players arguing over who was going to take the spot-kick.

But say the incident won't have any impact on team spirit ahead of Sunday's trip to Southampton.

“That's my job to manage that behind the scenes,” he said.

“When you see how this group are working and the commitment they have to each other, that;s not an issue at all.

“Only thing I would say is I don't like the etiquette. I don't like to see four or five players around the football looking to take the penalty.

“It was maybe more the etiquette which wasn't what we would have liked last night but we got the end result.

“I always assign responsibility every single game. This has been the first time in my time here that it has reared its head.

“We have a whole raft of penalty takers here who are outstanding. Rickie Lambert has hardly missed one in all his career.”

Rodgers praised vice-captain Henderson for how he dealt with the situation and allowed Balotelli to take the penalty.

He added: “Jordan Henderson showed what a team player he was. He respected Mario's position that he's an outstanding penalty taker. He was happy to give him the penalty. We got the penalty and won the game.

“Young Jordan showed his maturity and Mario had the calmness and composure to score.

“I think people see Jordan as an automatic next captain but that's not necessarily the case. He's still a young player and we have to go steady with Jordan. Everyone is trying to catapult him into the next Steven Gerrard. He's not that.

"I've said many times he's not that type of player. Jordan is a real honest boy - tireless in his running and gives his all for the team. Steven is a totally different player.

"It's not automatic he will be the next captain but he's vice-captain and has fitted into that role very well. He has a great role model in Steven."

Rodgers confirmed that Gerrard will miss the trip to St Mary's, along with Lucas Leiva, Jon Flanagan, Brad Jones and Jose Enrique, who all remain injured.