Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson reveals what led to their defeat at Southampton.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson admits they paid for their slow start in defeat at Southampton.

Danny Ings' early strike saw the Reds defeated at St Mary's Stadium on Monday night, with the visitors unable to force their way to a leveller amid a determined defensive display from the hosts.

Henderson said, "The start didn't help. We're starting slow in games and it's not us. We're probably saying that a few too many times at the minute so that doesn't help. Second-half performance I thought was very good, but we don't score again. In the last two games we've had some good chances and haven't put the ball in the back of the net, so that's another issue. I'd say they were the two main things.

"We knew we needed a quick start but for whatever reason… sloppy passes, causing one or two free-kicks, and you get punished in this league."

On their Christmas form, Henderson added: "We're frustrated, disappointed, but that happens in football. It's how you deal with it is the main thing, so we've got an FA Cup game against [Aston] Villa and then in the league we've got [Manchester] United so we need to react quickly and bounce back quickly because the last few games, in terms of results, haven't been good enough."