Tired Liverpool lose to Wigan at Anfield

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish blamed ‘tiredness’ and a hectic schedule for his side’s shock 2-1 home defeat by lowly Wigan.

The Reds went behind to a Shaun Maloney penalty and again with Garry Caldwell’s late strike following Luis Suarez’s equaliser.

The loss compounds Dalglish’s woes having presided over just one win in their last seven Premier League matches, despite reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and winning the Carling Cup.

“We were disappointed because a lot of the final balls and good positions we didn’t deliver. I just thought we looked a bit tired,” Dalglish admitted.

“We had a lot of possession in the game, we gave away the ball a lot in vital positions and it’s not because they can’t play, it’s because of tiredness. We’ve not got enough players to give them adequate rest.”

Liverpool had a goal ruled out shortly after the equaliser with Suarez adjudged to have put the ball into the net with his arm.

Wigan found the winner against the run of play but Dalglish insisted it was Liverpool’s collective weariness that cost them the three points.

“It’s a problem given to the players by the television schedules and maybe the fact that we’ve done well in two cup competitions obviously has given us lots of extra fixtures,” he said.

“If you play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday it’s going to take its toll and a lot of the lads there have played three games. But it doesn’t matter how well you play, you’re still going to need a little bit of luck sometimes.”

Counterpart Roberto Martinez was ecstatic with Wigan’s ‘historic’ win which lifted them within a point of safety after a fine run that has included just one loss in seven games.

“It’s a historic day for us, beating Liverpool at Anfield, that’s why we’re involved in football and I would like to present this moment to our fans,” Martinez said.

“They’ve had not much to celebrate this season and in the manner that they supported us against West Brom in one of the most dominant performances I’ve seen in the Premier League and we got just one point. I think today is a day we can be very, very proud.”

Wigan remain a point behind 17th-placed Bolton after their win at home over Blackburn and Martinez said recent results had heated up the battle to avoid the drop.

“I don’t think many could argue that we didn’t deserve the win, just for the manner we stopped Liverpool, I don’t think they looked fluent at all and that’s down to the hard work that players put in,” he said.

“I think anyone in the bottom three is capable of getting points against anyone and we’ve seen that in the week.

“It’s (winning) a real way to shape up all those aspects that you cannot control on the training ground which is the belief, the confidence, the feel-good factor that you get from a win at Anfield.”