'As a team, we don't accept it'

Liverpool's aspirations of securing a return to continental competition next season suffered a blow on Saturday when they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Southampton having gone into the game high on confidence following a four-match winning run.

The result leaves the Reds five points off fifth-placed Arsenal, who also have a game in hand.

Having beaten Tottenham Hotspur so dramatically just a week earlier, Jones admits the squad share the frustrations of the fans at the inconsistency of the performance at St Mary's - but insists unexpected results are not uncommon at this stage of a long season.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I got stopped by someone the other day in the supermarket and he was saying how frustrated he was. I said to him, 'It's the same for us.'

"We know what effort we put in every day in training and going into matches. The preparation, you know it's right but sometimes on the day it just doesn't happen for us. That's where it's the most frustrating.

"Sometimes it can happen where maybe one or two players aren't really at it, but in 11 you can cover it up and people maybe don't notice. If there's a day where maybe five or six aren't 100 per cent, you're going to struggle.

"It is that time of the season where people have little niggles, playing injured and things like that because the season is long and your body doesn't always hold out 100 per cent. I don't think there are many footballers who can go through a season at 100 per cent.

"It is difficult, but for us as players and a team, we don't accept having those days. It does happen now and again and sometimes you'll get away with it - you won't play well but you might be fortunate, nick a goal and win the game. But on a day like that, we gave ourselves too much to do and we weren't producing enough at the top of the pitch to counter the goals we gave away.

"It's massively frustrating and disappointing for the boys, but it's up to us now to crack on."

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Just six days prior to the trip to the south coast, Liverpool came from behind to secure victory over Tottenham at Anfield.

Jones acknowledges the Reds may have still been feeling the effects of a gruelling contest against the Londoners, though insists that can be no excuse for a below-par showing.

He continued: "It's a difficult one. It possibly could have been the result of the effort that got put into the Spurs game. That was quite a draining match and there was a lot being put on it as two teams that were in form and pushing to try and get into the top group of teams.

"Sometimes there can be a bit of a hangover from that sort of game, mentally as well as physically.

"But whether you can really put it down to that is difficult to say - but what you can say is Southampton had a game plan, stuck to it very well and it took us a good 20 minutes to come to terms with how they were playing and how it was affecting us.

"I thought with the goal just before half-time it could have really pushed us on and possibly put the jitters into them in the second half, but unfortunately I don't think we created enough. That's something we haven't had a problem with recently.

"On Saturday, it didn't really fall for us and we weren't 100 per cent at it for whatever reason - if everyone had an answer for it, it would never happen."

On the impact the 3-1 defeat at Southampton had on Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for Europe, Jones reflected: "It's hard to tell. Spurs went and lost and Everton won - that's the thing, you just don't know, especially at this end of the season.

"Teams who are in a relegation battle are fighting tooth and nail to make sure they try and stay up. The pressure gets to both ends of the table, but then you can play a mid-table team who have got nothing to play for and they play with the freedom to go and play and try things. Sometimes that's a better attitude to have.

"For us, we're on a good roll and we need to try and put Saturday away and continue on with the form we had beforehand. We were playing some good stuff, so we need to put Saturday down as a blip and crack on with the remaining games."

Liverpool don't return to action until Easter Sunday, when they travel to the Midlands to take on Aston Villa.

Jones admits there can be both pros and cons to such a hiatus following a defeat.

"At a club like this, with the amount of players that are away, sometimes it can freshen you up," he said. "Going away, being in a different environment, seeing other people... We basically live in each other's pockets for a good nine months of the year, so sometimes it's good to get away and be in a different environment.

"At the same time, it's more frustrating for the gaffer not being able to have the boys together to work on the things he wants to look at. It only gives us a few days before the next game to get things sorted.

"It can go both ways. If you're a team where there aren't too many away, that can be draining as well. You've got two weeks without a game and everyone is training thinking, 'We've got nothing to play for at the end of this week.' That can be difficult, too.

"The travel for some of the boys, such as Luis, can be difficult. But one thing you can be sure of with Luis is he's not going to miss a day's training - he won't miss one second if it's up to him! He's probably the best example of people going away as you don't really have to worry about him."