Liverpool boss Iraola demands 'higher levels' as weekend performance called out

Andoni Iraola admits Liverpool should be "aiming for higher performance levels" after their lacklustre draw with Fulham at the weekend.

The Reds were held to a goalless draw by the Cottagers at Anfield, Fulham's first point of the season, as they struggled to find a way through the west Londoners.

It means that Liverpool are already six points off the pace set by Arsenal and Manchester City and without a win across their two Premier League games at Anfield this season. Iraola is still very much trying to get his ideas across with his tenure still in its infancy.

Their Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham presents the chance for improvement, but is also their fourth game in 11 games. Iraola refused to see that as any type of excuse, insisting that will happen regularly given the amount of competitions their in, and wants to see forward strides made on Saturday's stalemate.

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He said in his programme notes: "There is no point making excuses or complaining about the time that we have to recover. This kind of situation is going to happen many times this season, so we have to face it and make the best of it.

"This doesn't necessarily mean I expect us to be at our very best in every single game that we play, but we should certainly be aiming for higher performance levels than we were able to reach at the weekend and we should also be finding ways to win.

"I say this because we want to be playing in the Champions League for as long as we can this season and we also want to be in the cup competitions for as long as we can."

The former Bournemouth has also hinted as changes, such is the relentlessness of the fixture list. "We have a number of players who deserve more minutes than I have been able to give them up to this point so that will come into my thinking, particularly as we also have players who have already given a lot," he said.

Liverpool's win in Europe over Atletico Madrid last week was their best result of the season so far, coming back from a goal down to beat the Spanish side. Iraola talked up the impact Anfield can have when they host Tottenham on Tuesday night.

The north Londoners have underwhelmed this season, failing to score in their four league outings. Their only success came in the Carabao Cup, where they beat Charlton.