Daniel Agger has told his Anfield team mates that they must take responsibility for Liverpool's recent poor performances.
Ahead of tonight's game with Portsmouth, the Dane has called on the Reds to accept some culpability after humiliating defeats to Wigan Athletic in the Premier League and French side Lille in the Europa League last week.
He said: "If you play at a football club like Liverpool you always need to take responsibility, no matter who you are. You do that on and off the pitch, but you must definitely do it in the games.
"Maybe we'll have to start to imagine not being in the top four. But for as long as we have a chance we have to keep believing.
Pompey travel to Anfield with the potential to further dent Liverpool's hopes of securing Champions League qualification, something which the 25-year-old defender does not want to contemplate at the end of the current campaign.
"We can't slip up any more because it's getting to the end of the season and we know we need more points," he continued.
"I can't imagine not being in the Champions League. That's the tournament we all want to be in. But it's our own fault where we are now and we have to get out of it.
"The fans have a right to expect Liverpool to be in the top four. A big club like Liverpool should be in there every year, but as we know football doesn't always work like that.
"The pressure of that shouldn't come into it. When you come to a club like this there will always be pressure to be successful."
Fernando Torres' comments in the Spanish press at the weekend have placed a veil of uncertainty over the future of several key players but Agger, once the subject of interest from AC Milan, is happy to remain on Merseyside regardless of this season's outcome.
He added: "I wouldn't walk away. I'd fight to put it right next year because I'm not a quitter.
"I've been close to winning trophies, but I still don't have any. That's a big disappointment because that's the reason I came to Liverpool."
--
Follow our breaking LFC news on Twitter, at http://twitter.com/clickLFC
helen cain, liverpool around 1 year, 11 months ago