Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool have not returned to the 'dark days' after draws with Everton and West Brom

Klopp dismissed doubts over Liverpool's form and said he will continue to rotate his squad

Klopp was unhappy with Liverpool's performance against West Brom (Getty)

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool are not in a slump, pointing to their 11-game unbeaten run and insisting his team are not “back to the dark days”.

Liverpool drew 1-1 with Everton in the Merseyside derby last weekend despite dominating for long periods of the game and followed that display with a midweek goalless draw against West Brom, but Klopp dismissed any doubts over their form.

“Nine days ago we were flying. Now I look into your eyes and see that obviously we have real problems. Everything is quick in this world. We don’t get it in a week and lose it in a week, it’s still there.

“It was just one game. Why should I be overly concerned that from this point on we’ll play like we did against West Brom? It was the first time in a long time. The boys are ready again for hard work. Is this the only place where we think ‘oh, are we back to the dark days or whatever?’”

Klopp admitted that his team made a slow start against the Baggies and criticised their wayward passing, but he also praised Alan Pardew’s side for their defensive solidity.

“I told the boys in the game against West Brom we started stiff but that doesn’t mean it has to stay like this,” he said. ”It didn’t work. West Brom did well and it was completely different to Everton. They had their counter-attacks and set-pieces. They deserved a close result and in the end it was 0-0.


 Mohamed Salah reacts after a missed chance against West Brom 
 (Getty)

“If we had played like we did against Everton we would have had more chances. We have to deliver, we have to play better. We have to be more fluent but you can’t force that.”

Liverpool play Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, and Klopp will continue to rotate his team as the fixtures pile up. “We haven’t had many games like [West Brom] in the past few weeks so I can’t make that game bigger than all the others. It had nothing to do with rotation.”

Simon Mignolet is set to return in goal after he was left out in midweek suffering from a swollen ankle. Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson and James Milner are all expected to recover from minor knocks, while Emre Can is suspended.