“It’s not too much different from my reaction last week.

“I’m really frustrated and disappointed with the result and the outcome of the game.

“We’ve lacked quality in the final third, that’s for sure, and I’ve had a really honest conversation with the players.

“We need to wake up and wake up fast because our recent form and our recent performances are way short in order to move up this table.

“I made one change. I thought Danny looked lively but he tired a little as the game went on.

“He’ll probably point towards needing more game time which I understand.

“I tried to make a few more changes and to be aggressive as the game went on because we were looking for a breakthrough.

“Listen, we’ve got in a lot of good areas today. We had a lot of the ball. The game panned out exactly as we thought.

“We knew it would be on us to force the breakthrough but we lacked quality in the final third and we had one shot on target out of 19 which isn’t enough.

“That, for me, tells me it’s a quality issue.

“That’s gotta come from within the dressing room.

“In previous games we’ve had that creation, invention and have looked exciting in a lot of games but, certainly, in the last two, I need to demand more of my players in the final third because we’re getting into crossing positions.

“We’ve got really talented players and it’s got to come from within. Players have to stand up and be counted.

“I’ll take the heat and the pressure is on me, of course it is, but when it’s a quality issue in the final third, it’s gotta come from within the dressing room as well.

“Young for Cash was a tactical change.

“He was on a yellow card so it’s a combination of him being on a yellow and tactical.

“We know we were getting down the right-hand side and we were looking to throw something different at it.

“But, because Watford were looking quite dangerous on the counter attack, I thought we might have to stop the game at certain points and, [with Matty Cash] on a yellow card, you can leave yourself vulnerable.

“The last thing you need is to get a red card in that situation so I thought it was the right decision for the team.

“I wanted to throw two at it, two up top, try to make it more about the central defenders [so took off Douglas Luiz for Ollie Watkins].

“I didn’t think we needed a holding midfielder in that position at the time. We were controlling the game, getting in the right areas and I needed more bodies in the box and I needed more of a goal threat there.

“I felt like we were lacking something in the final third so I wanted to take someone who was playing deep out of the game and to be more ambitious and more aggressive.

“The result is the same, that’s the reality. We carried the frustration on from last week.

“That’s on me, we’ve only taken one point from our last three games.

“It’s a bad combination in football when you concede goals and don’t score many.

“I need to take that on my shoulders and the players need to as well. We need to stick together.

“I’m not going to grasp at straws, the reality is we never had enough quality in the final third. We didn’t creative enough. Ben Foster didn’t have enough to do, especially at home.

“It’s not difficult for me to motivate the players, but motivating yourself comes from within. That’s on you as a footballer.”

Steven Gerrard.