James Milner sees progress in Liverpool’s bid to halt slump

James Milner vowed to “keep pushing, keep working hard” as out-of-sorts Liverpool look to get back on track.

Having enjoyed so much success in recent years, the reigning Premier League and Club World Cup champions are in the unusual position of struggling for coherence and results.

Liverpool lost 3-2 at bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday, compounding Thursday’s shock home loss against Burnley.

The Reds’ only win in their last seven matches came against Aston Villa’s kids, but Jurgen Klopp took positives from his side’s performance at Old Trafford, where Mohamed Salah opened the scoring and then pulled it back to 2-2 before Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick winner.

Veteran midfielder Milner said: “It’s a cup game and the result is the only thing that matters in a cup game, so that’s disappointing.

“I think the boys can be proud of how they played. Disappointed to give away the goals we did, which could have been stopped.

“But we reacted better today to disappointments in the game, better than we have done in recent games, and I think that’s a positive for us going forward.”

Liverpool face a tough return to league action at Tottenham and remain just six points behind current leaders United despite the recent drop-off.

Milner knows the Reds have got “a job to do on Thursday” and is confident they will kick on from this tough spell.

“I think when you’ve been on the run we have in the last few years, winning game after game – at times maybe when we didn’t deserve to win – and things are going your way, everything is easy,” he told Sony India.

“And obviously when results aren’t going your way, things that went your way before don’t seem to.

“That’s what we have to keep pushing, keep working hard, reacting the right way to disappointments.

“I think the boys did well today; they worked hard up front, created some good chances and I thought some of the play in the final third was a lot better today, we carved out some good chances.

“Ultimately today is a cup game, but hopefully it’s the first step of us getting back on a good run.”