Jurgen Klopp urges Liverpool squad not to wallow in self-pity

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told his players there is no room for self-pity in an underwhelming season which has had its fair share of disappointments but still is only halfway through.

After last weekend's added-time defeat to Brighton ended their defence of the FA Cup, Klopp highlighted the body language of some of his players, while stand-in captain Andy Robertson admitted the campaign had deteriorated since the World Cup break.

Some players are looking woefully short of form, Fabinho's disastrous late cameo at the Amex Stadium a case in point, but with the side 10 points adrift of fourth place, albeit with a match in hand, Klopp cannot afford for any of his injury-hit squad to start feeling sorry for themselves.

"Self-pity is not allowed in these moments. We are human beings and know these moments when you think 'Oh my God, everything is going against me'," he said.

"There's only one person who can change that really and it's yourself. These kind of things can happen and will happen in the future as well, but it's about limiting the time to get back on track."

While Klopp was at a loss to properly explain why the likes of Fabinho and captain Jordan Henderson, both dropped to the bench for recent matches as a new-look midfield was tried with some success, and to a lesser extent Mohamed Salah, have struggled for form, he knows the situation can be turned around.

And he pointed to the recent resurgence of Manchester United's Marcus Rashford this season after more than 18 months in the wilderness as an example.

"We all see that some players didn't exactly reach the level they reached for us consistently over four or five or six years. That's not unusual, it happens to other players as well," added Klopp ahead of the trip