Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool took plenty of strides forward in their FA Cup exit.
A Bruno Fernandes’ free kick saw Manchester United edge Sunday’s fourth round tie and condemn the Reds to a third defeat in their last five games.
The Premier League champions have now suffered back-to-back reversals in all competitions following a limp home defeat to Burnley earlier this week.
But Klopp had much to remain upbeat about following his side’s loss at Old Trafford, where Liverpool’s front line rediscovered its goal-scoring touch.
He said: “It’s not what we wanted, so it’s frustrating. If you want to win tonight, you have to play at your absolute top.
“We weren’t on our absolute top, but we made a lot of steps in the right direction.
“You could see the boys really wanted to change the fortune, they wanted to score goals and that’s good. We did that, we scored twice, which is good as well.
“That’s all OK but in the end they scored three, we scored two and they are through and we are not. That’s a fact as well.
“We can take positives out of this game, of course. I saw a lot of steps in the right direction and that’s all good.
“It was good preparation for the Tottenham game with their counter-attacking threat. We know exactly what we have to work on.”
The Liverpool manager admitted he could not say with certainty if Fabinho’s challenge on Edinson Cavani which led to Fernandes’ winner was a foul.
And he urged his players not to let this latest setback affect them, adding they must retain the scoring touch after Mohamed Salah’s brace in the game.
“We scored two goals, we had other situations where we could have scored as well,” added Klopp.
“We had other situations where we created really well against a deep-defending block, so that is good. There were a lot of good things.
“But it’s a result game and we need results. If we scored two then that should not then mean we concede three.
“I didn’t see [the Fabinho foul] so I cannot change that, but the free-kick they got, the journalist said it might not be a foul but I didn’t see it back.
“You have to stay stubborn in moments like this. You have to do the right stuff again and again and we will.
“If you want to change something you have to work hard and that’s what we will do.”