Fairclough rejects Dalglish excuse

Former Liverpool striker David Fairclough rejected Kenny Dalglish’s claim that fatigue was to blame for the club’s 2-1 home defeat to Wigan.

Fairclough won six league titles and three European Cups in the late 1970s and early 80s, becoming known for his influential appearances as a substitute.

“I don’t go along with the tiredness excuse. I think the players have to stand up and hold their hands up and say they haven’t performed,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think Kenny’s covering a little bit for the players. Kenny is an incredibly passionate competitor and he won’t be taking this lightly.

“It’s not like Kenny to come out publicly and slam the players – he did it once earlier in the season after the Bolton defeat and it worked and he got a reaction – but you can’t come out week after week blaming the players.

“I think behind the scenes he’ll have a slightly different attitude and he’ll be letting the players know that clearly they’re not playing as well as they can do. They’re letting everybody down at the moment.”

Fairclough insisted it was important to retain perspective and not to be too concerned with a poor run of form that has seen Liverpool win just two of their last 10 Premier League matches.

“At the moment everybody’s feeling a bit down and they’re saying one or two things that maybe they don’t necessarily mean. There’s a little bit of hysteria about the place,” Fairclough said.

“But it’s a results business and results are key. While people are getting all excited, I think we’ve got to stick together, start doing the basic things well again and just make sure you do what you do well week after week.”