Liverpool had no spark, says Dalglish

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish blamed a draining week of international friendlies for the Reds’ 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles put the hosts ahead in the 24th minute with his fifth goal from the past six league games, but the Reds tired at Anfield and conceded an equaliser to Wigan defender Steve Gohouri after the hour.

Dalglish said his side were robbed of their finishing touch by the residual effects of the midweek friendlies, which saw Liverpool’s four-match winning streak come to an end.

“We started well enough, we pushed forward and scored a goal,” Dalglish said.

“(But) you could tell that Wednesday night took a lot out of them. There was just that little bit of an edge missing.”

“If that edge had been there I think the final pass would have been there, and there were three or four occasions in the first half when we would have been in.”

“The sharpness was just missing a wee bit, which is understandable.”

“We are disappointed not to have taken three points, and with a bit of luck we might have done. I think Wigan, though, might have felt a wee bit aggrieved if they had left here without a point.”

“Luis (Suarez) hit the post twice, their goal is offside, but these things happen. We have to dust ourselves down and get on with it. It’s not been that damaging.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez praised his side for responding so emphatically following Meireles’ opener, and said the Latics left Merseyside with a deserved point.

“You come to Anfield and you go 1-0 down after playing well, that’s difficult,” Martinez said.

“The performance was really pleasing first half and the goal probably came against the run of play, and it’s a fantastic strike.”

“But I felt we had long spells of possession in the first half and grew into the game.”

“We didn’t show that belief that you need to show to hurt a team like Liverpool. I just felt that at half-time with that score-line and that feeling, I felt we could have done a little bit better, but we didn’t play badly.”

“I thought the reaction (in the second half) was great. We had good composure, we are a young group.”

“I felt we deserved a point. Coming to Anfield at this time, if you’re not at your best you’re not going to get anything, so the players deserve huge credit.”