Milos Kerkez shared his thoughts after Liverpool went into the international break with a 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League
Milos Kerkez conceded that fatigue was a factor for Liverpool after they were beaten 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
The Reds made the 430-mile round trip to the south coast and suffered their 10th Premier League defeat around 62 hours after they dismantled Galatasaray 4-0 in the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday night to reach the quarter-finals.
Kerkez equalised on the day to cancel out Danny Welbeck’s opener but the Seagulls striker struck the winning goal in the second half to administer another damaging setback to Liverpool in their quest for Champions League qualification.
The Reds made the journey having only been able to train for 20 minutes on Friday and with the likes of Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah, Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo all sidelined alongside goalkeeper Alisson Becker, the Hungary left-back admitted the squad struggled with the short turnaround in the schedule.
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“I think they definitely played well and had more chances,” Kerkez said. “I think we didn’t create as much as we wanted. It was a tough day – I think you could see some of us were maybe a little bit tired.
“But I don’t like using it as an excuse. We know where we are in the standings in the Premier League, and we know we have to push.
“Of course, it’s maybe a bit of an advantage (to Brighton), but still, very disappointed that we couldn’t win.”
Kerkez added: “It’s tough. Hugo (Ekitike) went off early and he really helps us a lot with deep runs and one-on-one actions.
“When Rio Ngumoha came on, he tried and was really good in one-on-ones, but on a day like this, we couldn’t really create a lot.”
Liverpool return to action when they are hosted by Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on April 4.
Asked whether the international break comes at a good time, Reds head coach Arne Slot said: “Yeah, it’s a break for me, maybe it’s a break for you, but it’s not a break for the players.
“I saw this today for the first time and maybe if I’m saying something wrong now then I’m wrong, but I thought I read today (Thomas) Tuchel, the England national team manager, said to 15 players they had to come in later during the camp.
“And if I am correct, but I have to read all the names one more time, those were mainly the players that have played Champions League and played so many games this season.
“Unfortunately for us, it’s the only country where we don’t have internationals, so all the other ones will probably use our players again twice.
“I think, but it’s also something I’m going to ask our data department, that a lot of our players are in the top 10 in terms of playing minutes, because I have so many times had to play the same players because of the model we are having, because of the injuries we are having.
“We don’t have a big squad, we always have to come back to the same players. But these same players today showed character because I thought I saw that all the ones that played Wednesday were still able to compete in the end.
“Maybe not as fresh as they were Wednesday but they didn’t give up and that’s an important asset to have for the last period of the season.”
