Kenny Dalglish says Liverpool must be more decisive in front of goal

Andy Carroll has failed to live up to his £35m price tag (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has called on his players to be more decisive in the final third if they are to solve their goalscoring issues.

The Reds drew another blank against Stoke on Saturday to register their seventh draw in 11 games at Anfield.

They have scored only 24 goals in 21 league matches and without the creativity and attacking spark of Luis Suarez, who is halfway through his eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra, they have looked well short up front.

Suarez has five league goals this season and Craig Bellamy four, but no other player has managed more than two.

There have been many occasions in the current campaign at Anfield when Dalglish's side have failed to put away numerous chances they have created but last weekend was not one of them as the team looked devoid of ideas.

"Deliveries into the box have got to be a lot better than what they were and we have to be more decisive when we get up there," said the Reds boss.

"We had plenty of possession but there was nothing to finish it.

"We fell down because we never passed it to someone in a red shirt who could put it in the back of the net.

"We lacked a bit of creativity. It wasn't a great spectacle."

Club record signing Andy Carroll, who had scored on his previous appearance at Anfield in the 5-1 FA Cup win over Oldham, had to wait until the hour mark to get his chance to come off the bench.

The £35million striker certainly gave Stoke's towering defence more problems but he failed to make the impact he would have hoped to.

Carroll has come in for criticism since his big-money move from Newcastle almost a year ago, with just six goals in 33 appearances, but he remains confident he can start repaying Dalglish's unstinting faith in him.

"The supporters have been brilliant to me ever since I came here and it was great to hit the back of the net (against Oldham)," he said.

"Hopefully I can now go on a goalscoring run.

"The objective is qualifying for the Champions League and we are up there and still in with a great chance of achieving that aim.

"We've done really well against the top teams and our away form has been great but in some of the home games we've struggled to put our chances away and I think that's where we need to make sure we can start to punish teams.

"Hopefully we can start taking our chances and score more goals as a team."

He added in an interview with the Liverpool programme: "There's a great spirit among the lads.

"In the dressing room everyone is friends, that shows in training and I think you can see the spirit in games too."

Defender Jose Enrique, who played at the weekend despite a stomach upset, knows they have to start winning matches at Anfield.

"We have to improve our home form, because we have lost too many points at Anfield this season," he told liverpoolfc.tv.

"We just have to stay positive. I think, maybe the Swansea game aside (a 0-0 draw), we have deserved to win the other games we have drawn at home.

"If we start to take our chances then we can be in the top four, but if we don't then we will make it more difficult for ourselves."

Liverpool now have a full week before travelling to Bolton for Saturday's evening kick-off, when Enrique hopes they can return to winning ways.

"I think it's good we have a break now so we can prepare for Bolton," added the Spaniard.

"Away from home at the moment we are getting better results than at home, so hopefully we can get the three points next Saturday."

PA