Kuyt moves on from 'off-day'

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has written off Monday’s Barclays Premier League horror show at Wigan as a one-off.

The Reds’ season sank to a new low on Monday after an abject 45 minutes at the DW Stadium when it seemed the ability to pass the ball to each other had deserted even the most gifted players in the side.

That defeat was followed up by another loss against Lille in the Europa League on Thursday – though that was not entirely unexpected given the French side’s formidable home record and boss Rafa Benitez declared himself happy with the improvement in performance after the game.

Now Kuyt has called on his team-mates to make up for their showing at Wigan when they face Portsmouth on Monday in their next league outing.

“Before Wigan, the last 10 [Premier League] games we had seven clean sheets and many games we won,” he said.

“The only defeat we had suffered in the league was at Arsenal and it was getting better and better.

“Monday was just an off-day for every one of us. We were all very disappointed, most of all with ourselves.

“We have got to change that.”