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Replays indicated that Joao Moutinho was offside prior to scoring the only goal of the game as the Portuguese side claimed a 1-0 last-16 at the Dragao.

"We struggled to pass the line and enter their half while controlling the ball, which are our main weapons," the 28-year-old told Goal.com.

"Porto gained possession of the ball and we didn't know what to do. We knew they had very good players, and they put us under a lot of pressure, didn't let us play and that made it very complicated for us. We lost the ball too quickly.

The Slovakia international was an unused substitute in Liverpool's 5-0 win over Swansea in the Premier League on Sunday.

And a knee injury looks set to rule him out of the second-leg tie against the Russian champions on Thursday.

"Skrtel is being assessed," Rodgers said. "I think he'll struggle with his knee, he had a knock on it and he tried to train and made it worse. It's highly unlikely he'll play."

The injury to Skrtel means Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger are expected to continue in the centre of defence against Zenit.

The European champions have a one-goal advantage courtesy of Oscar's late strike in Prague, so manager Rafael Benitez will take the opportunity to rest some of his more weary players.

The Blues' 33-year-old midfielder has appeared in all 13 of Chelsea's matches in 2013, starting 11 times, while Ivanovic has missed just one encounter since the turn of the year.

"Frank has been playing a lot of games," Benitez said in his pre-match press conference. 

"Managing the squad means we can keep fresh legs on the pitch."

The midfielder most recently hit the headlines by equalising in stoppage time during Italy's 1-1 friendly draw with Netherlands, and has played regularly under Carlo Ancelotti in Ligue 1 this season. 

"Verratti is a player that (Milan) are considering to buy," Berlusconi said. 

"We need to see if the financial aspects (of any deal) are good enough for us to acquire him."

The 23-year-old left Borussia Park last summer for Signal Iduna Park, where he started his career as a youngster, and has revealed that he still holds a place in his heart for his old employers.

"Gladbach will always be something special for me," he told Bild.

"With Gladbach, I became part of the national team, played my first Bundesliga match and scored my first Bundesliga goal. I will never forget them, and I am very grateful towards the entire club."

Liverpool will also be missing a host of attacking players for Thursday's clash, with Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho ineligible for Brendan Rodgers' side while Fabio Borini is likely to miss the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder.

However, the Reds overcame Swansea at the weekend with an impressive 5-0 victory at home, and the Spanish goalkeeper has called on the famous Anfield crowd to cheer on their side once again.

Gold was responding to fans' reaction on Twitter to Paolo Di Canio's departure from Swindon Town.

Di Canio, who continues to be a fan favourite at Upton Park, ended a tumultuous relationship with Swindon earlier in the week when he resigned after claiming 'broken promises' had made his position untenable. 

Gold retweeted posts from fans calling for Di Canio to replace Allardyce but then reaffirmed his own position by tweeting: "Always interesting to see the different opinions from people on Twitter. My view is clear though - Big Sam is our man! dg."