Reds ‘must bounce back quickly’
On Sunday Liverpool went down 2-1 at Tottenham, a team who beat them twice last season in the league and Carling Cup.
The game ended with assistant manager Sammy Lee sent off after a touchline row with the fourth official, and boss Rafael Benitez complaining that Liverpool were robbed of two penalties.
Now Liverpool face two Anfield dates to put things right, against Stoke tomorrow night and Aston Villa next Monday.
Lucas said: “Everyone is very disappointed but we haven’t got time to think about this for long.
“We have another game on Wednesday, and then next Monday, and we have to put the defeat by Spurs behind us.
“We must look forward and we now have two games at home in front of our own fans. We must aim to get six points.”
Liverpool only lost two league games throughout last season, so another slip-up in the next week will see the club engulfed in criticism.
And Lucas has not forgotten how tough Stoke made it for Liverpool last season at Anfield by forcing a damaging goalless draw, one of the several poor home displays that ultimately cost Liverpool the title.
Lucas said: “It will not be easy against Stoke because they will get men behind the ball and they won’t give us space.
“We had two draws against them last season so we know what to expect.
“But at home we will have a lot more possession than we had at Spurs and hopefully we will create more and score more goals.”
Liverpool’s reversal at White Hart lane was their first opening-weekend defeat for six years, with just a Steven Gerrard penalty to their credit. That cancelled out Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s brilliant opener for Spurs, who then won the match from a Sebastien Bassong header.
Lucas said: “We had more possession and more chances in the second period, but we were disappointed to concede twice to set-pieces.
“It is only one game and there’s a long way to go, but that performance was not good enough.”
Benitez agrees that it is good that Liverpool are quickly back into action after the disappointment of White Hart Lane.
And has urged his players to turn things around quickly.
He said: “The positive thing is we have another game in three days, and you can change everything.
“We know we have to win the next game, and then everything will change.
“But we did not play well. We are disappointed. We showed more character in the second-half and we were a threat, but it was still not enough.”
