Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson believes that they can still qualify for Europe this season, despite a damaging 3-1 defeat at Southampton on Saturday.
The Red’s were on a fantastic three game winning streak before the loss to the Saints which was giving the Anfield side an outside hope of reaching the top four, however they are now nine points adrift of a top four place.
Despite Liverpool being in seventh position, Henderson believes that European qualification is not out of the clubs reach just yet.
“It was a big disappointment against Southampton but Europe’s not gone yet,” he said.
“We’ve still got eight games to play and that’s a lot of points to play for. We’ve still got to play some of the teams above us so we have to keep going. We have to pick ourselves up from this and ensure we respond positively against Aston Villa after the international break.”
Henderson has struggled to break into a ‘winning’ side but he hopes of reclaiming his starting place back, now that Joe Allen is set to have an operation on his shoulder, as the former Swansea man pulled out of the Wales squad yesterday.
“I’ve just got to keep working hard,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“Before Saturday the team had been playing brilliantly so I can’t complain. You can’t really change a winning team so I’ve understood why I’ve not played. I just have to make sure that when the manager needs me I’m ready to take my chance.”
If Liverpool do manage to sneak their way into Europe it would be undeserved. They have been the most inconsistent team In the league this season. It would be hard to think of Liverpool without European competition, but If they do fail to qualify then it may do them the world of good moving forward without the Thursday night distractions.
