Reds have got worse, says Agger

LIVERPOOL defender Daniel Agger admits standards have slipped at the club but has stressed they cannot afford to fall any further.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth was the Reds’ seventh of the season and, combined with other results, saw them slip to eighth in the Barclays Premier League table.

They are now closer to Pompey, still rooted to the bottom despite a fourth win of the campaign, than they are to leaders Chelsea and the pressure is increasing on manager Rafael Benitez.

However, Agger said the players have to take responsibility for their below-par performances, which they had to put an end to heading into the busy festive period. “It goes without saying that we are extremely disappointed and we know that it simply isn’t good enough for this club,” said the Denmark defender.

“We have got to change this around. It didn’t happen against Portsmouth but we can’t let it go on any further.”

He added: “We have got to try to get some confidence from somewhere soon. It’s always a question of sticking together.”

Benitez will have to change his preferred line up over the next four matches as Javier Mascherano will serve another suspension after being sent off at Portsmouth.

The Argentina captain would have missed the festive games regardless as he injured the medial ligament in his left knee tackling Tal Ben Haim in the challenge which led to his dismissal.

“The player had a scan which confirmed the medical team’s initial diagnosis that he suffered a medial ligament sprain in his left knee,” a club spokesman said.

“He is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.”