• Premier League

Angry Benitez slams Reds' showing

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez delivered a brutally honest assessment of his side's performance in their 1-0 Premier League defeat at Wigan on Monday.

Hugo Rodallega's eighth league goal of the season late in the first half ended a run of seven league matches without a victory for the Latics and dented the Reds' Champions League qualification hopes.

Asked if he thought it was a fair result, Benitez said on ESPN: "I think so. I think we didn't play well, especially in the first half. We didn't show attitude.''

Benitez admitted his side gave the ball away too often in a defeat that could leave Benitez embarassed by his "guarantee" earlier in the season that Liverpool would finish fourth.

"That is very clear, especially in the first half,'' he added. "We're not happy. We have to show more character if we want to be in top four.''

Paul Scharner claimed Wigan's win will be a huge confidence boost for the Latics, who had not won in the league since beating Wolves 2-0 on January 16.

"It's a very important three points, it's magnificent to win against Liverpool after a bad run,'' he said. "It's massive, I think the confidence will increase now.

Monday night was a disappointing one for Liverpool and Fernando Torres © Getty Images

Enlarge

"I'm very happy with what my colleagues showed on the pitch today. Hopefully we can stay together.''

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez could not contain his delight with his team's display, which pushes them up to 14th in the league, four points above the relegation zone.

"I think we had everything you can expect from a good performance,'' he said on ESPN. "This is one of the days to be very, very proud of Wigan.

"Today the players showed great composure, great understanding. If anything we looked dangerous on the break and with the right decision could have got the second goal

"We need to carry on this standard till the end of the season. You saw a group of players who want to play the right way, want to win in the right manner.

"They have all the attributes needed in a very good football side. I'm just delighted for the players.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.