Rafael Benitez couldn’t hide his disappointment after Liverpool crashed to a 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

A solitary strike from Hugo Rodallega was enough to give Roberto Martinez’s side all three points - and the Reds boss cited a below par first-half display as the main catalyst behind the loss.

“I have to be really disappointed and I can’t be happy after losing a game like that,” the boss told his post-match press conference.

“In the first half we didn’t do anything and we kept giving the ball away. We didn’t win any first or second balls and it was difficult to explain.

“We talked about our first-half performance during the break and in the second half our attitude was much better, but it still wasn’t enough.

“We had some chances but we didn’t play well enough. Everybody is really low after the game.

“It was a question of our attitude in the first half. The players showed their character in the second half. Sometimes we were in too much of a hurry with our play in the second half, but at least we showed character.

“Wigan worked very hard from the beginning until the end but we expected this.

“You have some good games and bad games, but especially at this time, at a crucial moment, we could have done better.

“It’s a question of analysing why we didn’t show the character we had to show in the first half.”

The Reds will now turn their attentions to the Europa League and the first leg of their last 16 clash with French outfit Lille on Thursday.

“We have another important game on Thursday and we have to be ready,” added the boss.

“We have to keep going and try to win games.”

On the positive side, Glen Johnson made his first appearance of the calendar year after coming on as a second-half substitute.

“It was good to have Glen back, but it’s no good getting players back if you don’t win games.”