It was a frustrating 90 minutes for Liverpool at St.Mary's as a 0-0 draw saw Gini Wijnaldum and his teammates fail to score for just the third time this season, but he revealed that their manager told them to keep their heads high afterwards.

Jürgen Klopp preferred to focus on the positives of the game to improve the atmosphere around the dressing room after the game, as Wijnaldum pointed out that Klopp advised the players to "not be negative" and focus on the good things they did in the game.

Klopp was satisfied with the game

As has almost always been the case this season, the Reds dominated the match and had the lion's share of chances, it was only a question of converting those chances.

"In the second half we played in their half," said Wijnaldum. "The only thing is we didn’t score, but sometimes in these games you can concede a goal and lose the game so the result was not that bad."

The Dutchman then complimented his manager on being positive and that he was "satisfied" with the way his team played against the Saints.

Liverpool players have been so used to putting the ball in the back of the net that, the fact they drew a blank against Southampton must have really left them scratching their heads. Roberto Firmino will probably be ruing his miss the most as he fired wide after he was played through by his compatriot Phillippe Coutinho.

Wijnaldum believes that team "played well" and the one thing they forgot, was "to score." He explained how at times in the season, a team can play ever so well and still not manage to find a breakthrough for some reason, claiming that "this was that game."

While he conceded that the whole team was "disappointed", he also acknowledged that things could have been "worse" and that they could have been on the losing side had Charlie Austin's header gone in.

Wijnaldum added: "It was one of those days. You can have days like this but I don’t want to see it as a negative. We did a lot of things well, a few things wrong, but if you look at the game we did more good than bad."

He also said that the team were disappointed only with the result and not the performance, because they did play very well.

Wijnaldum enjoying Life with the Reds

Since his move to Merseyside in the summer, Wijnaldum has looked at home in his box-to-box midfield role for Liverpool and replaced the injured Adam Lallana in the game against Southampton.

He was given the attacking freedom in the final third as Emre Can and Jordan Henderson anchored the midfield, providing useful cover to the back four.

Many have tipped this Liverpool team to challenge for the title this season and Wijnaldum believes that a team ethic is pushing the Reds for title glory this season.

Wijnaldum is enjoying being a part of the team and "winning a lot of games" and being "top of the league." He spoke about the team being "good' with and against each other and he believes in turn that this makes "a better player."

"Everyone helps this team. In football it is always the players who score the most who get the credit but we are a team and we are all trying to play a part," Wijnaldum also said.

"“Everyone appreciates everyone and tries to help. Everyone has respect for each other and I think that is what makes us so good. We are trying to win for each other," he added.

Liverpool's next game is against the relegation-threatened Sundeland as they hope to add to the Black Cats' misery this season.

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About the author
Ninad Barbadikar
Editor for the Brighton and Hove Albion Office. Contributor to VAVEL UK since July 2016.