Liverpool face Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup replay on Wednesday…
Reds vice-captain Jordan Henderson has urged his teammates not to let their season slip away from them, after a humbling defeat at the hands of Arsenal opened up an ominous seven-point gap between us and fourth place.
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Back-to-back Premier League losses against top-four rivals Manchester United and Arsenal have seemingly left our season in tatters, a startling turnaround following our hugely impressive 13-game unbeaten run.
Henderson, who spoke with our official website after the game, blamed a ‘lack of aggression and cutting edge’ for our 4-1 defeat against the Gunners. He hopes that the reality check will now inspire a strong reaction.
He said: “To concede three goals in such a short space of time is not good enough. Our one-v-one defending needs to be better.
“I’m sure we’ll work on that in training. We’ve just got to be a little bit more aggressive, defensively, and then also in the final third, be more ruthless.
“We knew it was going to be difficult [to finish in the top four], even before we came here, but it makes it even more difficult. That doesn’t mean we’ll just give up. We’ve got seven games left now and we need to try and win every one. If we do that, then you never know.
“[Blackburn] is another big game for us straightaway. We’ve got to recover well, learn from this one and move on and try to get a big win on Wednesday.”
It will of course be a quick turnaround for the Reds, who have just a couple of days to prepare for Wednesday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay, with the prize of a trip to Wembley to meet Aston Villa on offer for the winner.
Henderson and co will surely still be desperate to ensure our season ends on a high by finishing as high as possible in the league and challenging for silverware.