- Arne Slot revealed how he thought his stars could have done better at Plymouth
- Liverpool left lots of major stars at home and struggled to create many chances
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Arne Slot insisted he has no regrets over selecting a weakened team for Liverpool’s trip to Plymouth as his focus is on Wednesday’s Merseyside Derby in the Premier League.
A long list of heavyweights were left in the north west with none of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Conor Bradley, Andy Robertson making the journey to Devon.
But Slot insisted he still believes the mass changes were the right call and, when asked if he regretted his decision, said: ‘No, because you never know what would happen if we played with our starters over here.
‘I think during the season we have seen a few times already that is a gameplan or a style which is difficult for our starters but also for the players who started today. So constantly long balls, second balls. It’s difficult for every team.
‘Today I think showed why we used these players – because these players need game rhythm as well in the upcoming months, they need game time and you saw today, some of these players need to be like this to be ready for the final few months of the season.’
Slot added: ‘The result is obvious, it was a big disappointment and the way we played, there wasn’t a lot to be happy about either. I was happy that the boys kept on fighting for 100 minutes and probably the best part of our game was the final 10 minutes.
Arne Slotinsisted he has no regrets over selecitng a weakened team to face Plymouth
Liverpool squandered multiple chances but in truth weren’t creative enough at Home Park
Their hopes of winning the Quadruple ended after a lacklustre attacking display in Plymouth
Ryan Hardie (centre) was the hero as the Championship basement boys made history
‘So that shows that they kept on fighting but credit to Plymouth – they have a good gameplan, worked incredibly hard and got a penalty that was a reward and it was deserved because it was a clear penalty, correct decision.
‘But that had a lot of impact on the game because both teams hardly had a chance and then all of a sudden, it was a penalty. Which, again, was the correct decision. They kept fighting until the end and the goalkeeper made good saves… but we hardly created anything.’
Meanwhile, Liverpool were dealt an injury blow as Joe Gomez, captain on the day, limped off after just 10 minutes. He had missed six weeks with a hamstring injury and will have scans in the next 24 hours to assess the extent of his problem.
Curtis Jones was part of the travelling party to Plymouth but felt some discomfort after a training session so was left out of the starting XI as a precaution. The midfielder was named as a substitute but never got off his seat to warm-up.