Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has insisted his side must begin to convert their chances if they are to climb the Premier League table, following Monday’s 1-1 stalemate with relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers.
The draw was the Reds’ sixth of the season at Anfield as they once again failed to capitalise on a number of chances and long periods of dominance to secure three points.
Although the Scottish boss is confident his team will soon see their luck turn and won’t abandon their current philosophy, he was left to rue their missed opportunities, whilst also hailing the performance of Rovers stand-in stopper Mark Bunn.
Dalglish told reporters: “It’s same as after a few other games here. [We’ve done] more than enough to win, [and had] more than enough chances to have won the game.
“The performance could have been a touch better but no complaints about that. With the opportunities that we created and made no complaints but once again we’ve not converted a good enough ratio of the chances we’ve made.
“The goalkeeper’s made a fantastic save at the end, apart from a few others as well.
“Most of the things we do, we do very well and we do it right but a bit of luck, a bit more belief in ourselves and a goalkeeper coming having a nightmare would be helpful.
“We can’t control that goalkeeper having a nightmare, we can only control ourselves, and if we get them on target it’s up to him to save them and he saved most of them today.
“We’ll continue getting in there, creating chances and play the way we’re playing.”
Dalglish also went on to praise his side’s mentality as they pushed for a late winner right up until the full-time whistle.
He continued: “The keeper’s made a great save from Andy [Carroll], it could’ve been a push on Daniel Agger but the goalie makes a fantastic save.
“The most important thing for us is the attitude of them that in the last minute they’re still up there they’re determined to get a winner because that’s what teams at Liverpool have always done.
“It’s nice to see they’ve got the same traits, it didn’t do the club any harm in past years and I don’t think it’ll do us any harm to have the same attitude as well.”
The 60-year-old was also pleased to see the return of club captain Steven Gerrard from a groin injury, who came on from the bench to make his first appearance since October.
He added: “He’s done really well in training, he looks really fit and he needs some time on the pitch now to get back to full fitness.
“The difficulty for us was deciding who to take off because it’s not as if we were playing poorly. Usually if it’s a bit of a struggle you can see that you’ve got two or three options but there wasn’t anybody who really stood out that deserved to be taken off.
“We had to do something to try and win the game and I made two substitutions with Steven and [Craig Bellamy] Bellars and with a bit of good fortune we probably would have.”
Dalglish was, however, reluctant to discuss the performance of striker Carroll, who once again failed to net after starting for the first time in four games.
He said: “I think you keep asking individuals we keep going back to the team’s performance. It wasn’t faultless but there’d be a lot of people happy with that showing.”