Suarez racism row no distraction, says Agger

Liverpool defender Daniel Agger insists the on-going racism row surrounding Luis Suarez has not been a distraction for the Reds.

The FA have banned the Uruguayan for eight games and fined him 40,000 pounds following alleged racist remarks made by the striker towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in the 1-1 draw at Anfield in October.

Suarez has been backed by both his club and his team-mates following the punishment, but Agger insists that the saga has not affected the Reds performances, despite being held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Wigan on Wednesday.

“That is not on our mind,” Agger said. “We are playing football and that is most important, we don’t think about that stuff.”

“The squad is together, that is the way it is. It (support for Suarez) has never been in doubt.”

“Of course it is second nature to back our friend but the most important thing is to win football games – it just wasn’t a big success at Wigan.”

Kenny Dalglish’s side could have taken all three points at the DW Stadium if not for Ali Al-Habsi’s save to deny Charlie Adam from the penalty spot.

“It is a frustrating night because we went there for a win,” Agger said. “I think we had the better, more clear chances. We are just not finishing the games.”

“The first 20 minutes we played really well but when you are not scoring goals you are not winning games.”

“The good thing about football is there is always another chance (at home to Blackburn on Boxing Day) and we have to be more clinical in that game.”