Steven Gerrard disappointed as Liverpool U18 thrashed by Tottenham

Steven Gerrard's Liverpool under-18s suffered their first domestic defeat of the season after they were beaten 4-0 by Scott Parker's Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League Cup on Wednesday.

It was just Gerrard's second defeat as a manager as his side bowed out of the competition at the quarterfinal stage.

Parker, who took up his post in summer like Gerrard, will take his team to the semifinals as a brace from Rodel Richards and goals from Reo Griffiths and Dilan Markanday ensured a comfortable victory over the Merseyside youngsters.

Speaking to Liverpool's official website after the game, Gerrard believes a number of his players "quit" when 2-0 down.

"It was tough to take and obviously a difficult one to swallow," he said. "The scoreline looks heavy and it feels heavy at the moment but I think it probably flattered Tottenham a little bit, although I did feel we quit in the game at 2-0 down.

"We need to learn from this and my message from the dressing room afterwards is if three or four players don't turn up in big games then it's very difficult to get the result that you want.