Jurgen Klopp has defended Liverpool’s rotation policy after back-to-back draws.
Everton and West Brom took a point apiece from Anfield in the space of four days, with Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino both rested in the former.
That decision prompted criticism of Klopp’s strategy as the Reds lost further ground in their battle for a Champions League qualification place.
But the Liverpool manager remained calm about the recent run of results, insisting that rotation was not a factor in his side’s downturn in fortunes.
He said: “I would not say it’s a difficulty – it’s just a job to do.
“We have to make sure that we have as fit as possible players for the specific games. That’s what we did all the time, nothing else.
“We thought – and we still think – that the squad still gives us that opportunity and that’s why we did it. I can really understand that [after] two draws at home that there’s criticism out there.
“That’s completely normal but I think they were two completely different games, especially in the Everton game.
“It was a really good game, we played really well – one of the best derbies I saw since I’m in (Liverpool), with the wrong result at the end.
“We were unlucky and to be honest, against West Brom I thought we didn’t dserve luck really. It was not a good performance.
“It was not as good as we could have played, 100% – not fluid enough, timing was not good, passing was not at its best and that’s it.
“We didn’t have a lot of not-good games in the last few weeks so I can’t make this one bigger than the others.
“But I don’t think it had anything to do with rotation.”