Carragher reveals prayers for Liverpool redemption

Jamie Carragher has revealed that he has been praying nightly for divine intervention to ensure Liverpool end the season with some silverware and a place in the Premier League’s top four.

Rafael Benitez’s side have been eliminated from this season’s Champions League and are in danger of missing out on a space among Europe’s elite next season after winning only seven out of 16 league matches so far in this campaign.

A 2-1 defeat at home to Arsenal on Sunday left the Reds five points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa and centreback Carragher admits he has personally gone through one of the toughest times of his career.

“Part of playing for Liverpool is having big character and that is what we need at the moment,” the defender said.

“Between now and the end of May it has got to be a grind at times but we have got to stick together, get through it and, as I am doing every night, pray to God that at the end of the season there will be something worth what we have gone through at times, because it has been tough.

“I pray to God we win the FA Cup or the Europa League and we get in the top four, dust ourselves down at the end of the season and say ‘It hasn’t been so bad in the end’, but at this moment it is tough.

“With the quality of players we have and the stature of the club, we realise we should do better.

“We can’t look for excuses. We have to be big and strong and get on with it.”

Benitez meanwhile has called for a display of character from his squad, who entertain Wigan at Anfield on Wednesday.

“The main thing now is that we have to show confidence, we have to show character,” the Spaniard said.

“They play for Liverpool. We have to improve, we have to show character when we have problems and we must keep our confidence high.

“The only way to change things is to keep working hard and in this situation, when you are making mistakes, you have to be strong and try to do things properly in the future.

“We kept giving the ball away against Arsenal, it is something we have to improve on.

“Now we play Wigan on Wednesday here and we know we have to do better.

“We cannot be complaining, we cannot be arguing about anything. We must keep going and try to discover why we were so bad in the second half in terms of confidence.”