Jürgen Klopp rejects suggestions Fulham players 'wanted it more'

Jürgen Klopp denied Liverpool had lost their hunger after the Premier League champions’ embarrassing Anfield run extended to six consecutive defeats against relegation-threatened Fulham.

Mario Lemina’s first Fulham goal extended the worst home run in Liverpool’s history as Scott Parker’s side moved level on points with fourth from bottom Brighton. Harrison Reed, the Fulham midfielder, claimed afterwards that the visitors showed a greater desire for three points throughout. “We wanted it more,” he said. “That was evident on the pitch from the first whistle and it was a big factor in us getting the three points.”

Related: Mario Lemina deepens Liverpool's gloom with vital winner for Fulham

Klopp admitted Liverpool’s performance “was not good enough” but rejected the suggestion that his players’ mentality was a contributory factor to their latest home defeat.

“The winner is always right,” he said in response to Reed’s claim. “I don’t see that as a problem but my boys wanted to win football games. We just couldn’t do it. That is the problem.

“Maybe heads went down today after they scored but the reaction football-wise was kind of OK. There are a lot of players who are not on the pitch at the moment who are leaders. That is clear. But believe me these boys want to win. It doesn’t work at the moment, we don’t score goals, we concede and one goal against us seems to be enough at the moment.

“We don’t have the mentality we are used to but the boys want to win games and I saw that today. We still made mistakes and that’s the problem. It’s not that the boys want to make mistakes, we just make them. We have really tight results which pretty much always go against us at the moment. We just have to make sure we win a game again.”

As for Liverpool’s prospects of finishing in the top four this season, the manager added: “It’s really not my concern at the moment. I cannot think about that. We have to win a football game. We have to win one football game, that would be helpful.”

Parker said he was proud but not surprised by a performance that lifted Fulham closer to safety. The Fulham manager, who has guided the club to wins at Liverpool and Everton in the same season for the first time, said: “It was a big performance today. I thought we were fantastic in both halves, although the dynamics of each were different.

“The front-foot, attacking side I want us to be was there in the first half and we got our noses in front with some good skill from Mario. You understand coming to a place like Anfield and the quality they possess you are going to have to be organised and disciplined. I thought the organisation was top as well. A massive result and I’m proud of them.”