Carrick: My opinion hasn't changed

The Reds were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute when Lisandro Martinez was sent off, following a VAR review, for making contact with Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair during a tussle for possession in the middle of the pitch.

It was a decision that frustrated the boss but he was heartened by his side rallying, despite being 2-0 down to Noah Okofor's first-half double and pulling a goal back through Casemiro.

Calvert-Lewin denied the Brazilian an equaliser with a goalline clearance, and then also blocked Manuel Ugarte's follow-up, as the ball did not fall our way in the closing stages.

“I have to say, whatever happened tonight, it’s not going to suddenly change my opinion on what we are as a team," Carrick said at his post-match press conference.

"We’ve built enough of a foundation to kind of understand what we’re good at and what we need to improve on.

"Moving forward at the end of the season, the games are going to be the games and it’s a big end of the season. There’s no getting away from it.

"The kind of mentality and the character of the boys wanting to do well and trying to give everything, I’ve never doubted that, and I won’t doubt that.

"I think, from what I’ve seen every day and in the games, it’s there. We can certainly improve at certain things so I’m not saying that but the boys are desperate to do well and desperate to improve. We’ve done a lot of good things so far, we need to do more of that for sure."

Hopefully, the spirit shown, despite the adversity of being shown a red card, can prompt a positive response in our next outing, the away game against sixth-placed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night.

Carrick is clear his side will be on their mettle for the clash in west London, which feels even more important now in the context of the battle for a place in next season's UEFA Champions League.

"I thought we were [the better team with 10 men]," he said. "I thought it was a really good reaction. We spoke at half-time about staying positive and how the game can change and what we were capable of doing.

"I was really pleased with the boys and the way they did that. But listen, it’s a little bit down and disappointed because of the result - that’s natural. It’s an important game and any game we lose, we don’t want to lose. If there was any other reaction from them, you’d be a little bit concerned so there’s that for sure.

"But it won’t dampen the confidence or the belief moving forward.”

Speaking to Sky sports afterwards, our head coach added: "We didn't start the game particularly well. We didn't quite have the rhythm. We didn't click. We had some moments but it wasn't quite there for large parts of the first half. In the second half, I thought the boys went about it and stayed positive and fought for everything.

"The boys went for it. It's football. Sometimes, you don't have good spells in games. Other times, you do. We know we can do better and do things better and obviously we'll look at that. It's obviously difficult when you've got a man down.

"This is one game, alright, so we'll certainly look at it and look to improve. We've got another big and important game next week and it's a big end to the season. We're really in a good position. Tonight was disappointing. We didn't want to lose at home but we've got to move on. We've got a big end to the season."