Georginio Wijnaldum says fatigue is not what has caused Liverpool's season to come unstuck in 2017 and believes rather that he and his teammates are short of confidence.

The Reds have been knocked out of both the EFL Cup and FA Cup since the turn of the year, while their hopes of ending a 27-year wait for the league title are all but over now they trail first-placed Chelsea by 13 points.

But while results and performances have taken a downturn, Jürgen Klopp's men winning just one of 10 games this year, Wijnaldum denies that the Liverpool squad are tired as a result of their high-intensity style-of-play.

Confidence the problem, not fatigue, says midfielder

Speaking to the club's official website, the midfielder that it is "difficult to say" why Liverpool have struggled recently, explaining: "People from outside ask us what the reason is that we're not performing as good as before.

He added: "They ask you is it games that we've played, because we've played a lot of games in a row, but other teams have had the same and didn't drop points. And we did."

The Reds' £25 million summer signing insisted that the team are "sometimes in a flow" and "sometimes not", insisting that in their current situation they are "not in a flow" but "must have confidence and faith" that they "can change it."

"We showed it against Chelsea, but we have to show that against other teams we're playing against," Wijnaldum continued. He said that Liverpool must "get the focus to play again like before" in how they were "playing with freedom" earlier this season.

The 26-year-old acknowledged that "you lose a little bit of confidence" if "you don't collect a lot of points" or "you lose a lot of games and you don't play the way you played before."

But he said that the team must "make sure" they "get back on track" and "play like we did" in order to "get more confidence and start winning games [again]."

Dutchman 'trying to learn from mistakes'

The Reds' defeat to Hull City even leaves their prospects of a top-four finish in doubt, only a few months after they appeared primed to go head-to-head with Chelsea until the end of May..

And Liverpool face a tough test to immediately bounce back with the visit of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield this Saturday.

Spurs, four points ahead of Liverpool and on a nine-game unbeaten streak, have emerged as challengers again this term - particularly since a 2-0 win at home to Chelsea which ended their 13-game winning run.

But from seven games Liverpool are unbeaten against any of the top six this term, and Wijnaldum says that if they can produce another high-level team performance they can continue that streak.

He declared that "every game" is another opportunity and so players can "enjoy it a little bit" after a win but must still "focus on the next game again" quickly after.

The Netherlands international revealed that is what the Liverpool squad are "trying to do now", insisting they are "trying to learn from the mistakes" of recent games.

Wijnaldum added that he himself is "trying to learn from the mistakes" he has personally made and "looking forward" to trying to better himself in each game.

He said: "It's not that I think about the games all of the time but I think about the moments I could have done better and the moments I did well, to take that with me and learn from it to play a better game next time."

He vowed that the "whole team" take such an approach and added that if they can "deliver as a team" it becomes easier for "each player to show their quality", touching on goals scored against Chelsea and Manchester City in the past couple of months.

'Easier' for Liverpool to play well in the big games, suggests Wijnaldum

"In the big games it's been the best kind of football we've played this season," said Wijnaldum on the club's record against the top teams, adding: "I think it's easier for everyone to perform in those kind of games."

He also stated that he was "lucky" to have "scored important goals" in recent important clashes, insisting that it is "the whole team who performs against a big team" even if individuals are singled out for their performances.

On Wednesday, Wijnaldum was announced as Liverpool's Player of the Month for January after claiming 22 per-cent of the fans' vote on the club's official website.

From six starts in the first month of 2017, he scored one goal - heading the Reds' equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with Chelsea - and was one of the better performers throughout a dismal patch of form.

Wijnaldum told Liverpoolfc.com that the award meant a lot and will act as a "boost to do even better", though he added his first priority is to help "the team start winning games again and trying to play football how we did before."