Rafa fuming after loss

FUMING Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez accused his Liverpool players of lacking character and desire after they slumped to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at struggling Wigan Athletic last night.

The Reds paid the price for a woeful performance at the DW Stadium as they wasted the chance to climb back into the top four of the Premier League.

Hugo Rodallega punished an error by Dirk Kuyt to break the deadlock before the break and despite a slight improvement in the second half there was no way back.

"There were too many things that were wrong tonight," Benitez said.

"We have to be really disappointed and it is really difficult to explain.

"Wigan had more desire than us, especially in the first half.

"It was a question of attitude in the first half. We didn't do well and gave the ball away far too much.

"In the second half the attitude was much better but sometimes we were playing in too much of a hurry.

"We prepared for the game properly and we talked about how to approach it, but tonight there are too many things that I can't understand.

"If you approach games like that you can't win anything. We have to analyse why we didn't show the character we need to show."

The Latics' first ever win over the Reds delivered a major blow to Benitez's hopes of guiding the club back into the Champions League. Liverpool are now a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham and have played a game more.

The Spaniard must now attempt to lift his players for Thursday night's Europa League clash away to Lille.

"Everyone is really low in the dressing room," Benitez admitted.

"Tonight was a crucial moment for us and we should have done better.

"We have to keep going and we have an important game on Thursday. We must also keep trying for fourth place.

"But if we want to be in the top four we have to show more character. If you don't show character and attitude you can't guarantee anything."

It was a miserable night for top scorer Fernando Torres who wasted the Reds' best chances and then showed his frustration late on with a reckless challenge on Emmerson Boyce which earned him a booking.

Benitez said: "It was difficult for Torres because we were playing without game intelligence. The team have to give him better balls."

Relegation-threatened Wigan had gone seven league games without a win and hadn't triumphed at home since they beat Sunderland in November.

Delighted manager Roberto Martinez said: "This is a huge win for us and it's been coming.

"I was extremely pleased with the attitude of the players.

"People thought our new pitch would go in Liverpool's favour but we imposed ourselves in every department and limited a talented Liverpool side to very few chances.

"We deserved the win and it's a night to remember for our fans.

"Give credit to our players because we made Liverpool get frustrated.

"We stopped the service to their crucial players and that was down to the work ethic of our players.

"Liverpool came here to try to take the sting out of the game. They did that for long periods but they only had two attempts on target and that shows how hard we worked.

"We are still far away from our aim of staying in the Premier League but if we show that kind of character we can beat anyone."

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.