ReactionNat Phillips: City defeat frustrating - now we must focus on Villa
Liverpool have to quickly set full focus on the Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa after the frustration of their Carabao Cup elimination, said Nathaniel Phillips.
The Reds were narrowly beaten 3-2 by Manchester City in the fourth round on Thursday night as they returned to action following the World Cup break.
Jürgen Klopp's side now face a swift turnaround with a Premier League trip to Villa Park coming up on Monday and Phillips – who was a first-half introduction from the bench at Etihad Stadium – explained the desire to bounce back at the next chance.
Man City 3-2 Liverpool: Match action
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"It was frustrating because we would have liked to have done well in this competition," the defender told Liverpoolfc.com.
"We want to do well in every competition we are involved in, but the fact of the matter is we are out of that now and focus has to turn to the next game and the next campaign, which is the Premier League one.
"So, we'll dust ourselves down and turn our concentration towards that."
Goals from Erling Haaland and Fabio Carvalho had the sides level at half-time, then Riyad Mahrez and Mohamed Salah struck within a minute of each other early in the second half.
Both teams created several chances subsequently but Nathan Ake's header just before the hour mark proved to be the difference.
"It was an intense game, very open, frantic at times," reflected Phillips. "I think both teams all throughout felt like they could win it.
"It was frustrating that it couldn't have been us, I think we did enough in the game for it to have been and I think it could easily have gone the other way.
"There's plenty from the game that we can look back on and can work on, but City is a tough place to come, a tough opponent and it was a tough game."
The No.47 also acknowledged the disappointment with the manner in which Liverpool conceded on the evening and stressed the need to improve from that.
"The goals that they scored, certainly [we] feel like we could do better, especially the set-piece," said Phillips. "It's always so frustrating to concede from a set-piece. I'd like to look back at that one."
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