my liverpool fc

Defiant: Javier Mascherano insists Liverpool can salvage something from their season Photo: PA

Liverpool have failed to reach the knockout stages for the first time since Rafa Benitez's arrival in 2004, and Mascherano said: "It's a strange feeling for everyone at the club. We are all so very disappointed.

"The Champions League is a special competition for us but it's gone and we must keep going. Now we are in another competition and we will do all we can to win it.

"There will be no problem with motivation. The motivation is simply to play for Liverpool. We are representing a top side and we all want to do well for Liverpool.

"We need to show that we are good players. It's got nothing to do with motivation, every year we do our best to qualify for the Champions League

Liverpool cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves with a crucial game against Everton on Sunday.

"We know that in the league we have got to start winning again because we are not in the top four," added Mascherano.

"That is strange for everyone at the club and all the supporters. In the last four years, we have always been in the top four, sometimes fighting for the title but always fighting to get into the Champions League.

"We need to start winning games and we know that we have got a very important game against Everton. We need to win it. We beat Debrecen to get a bit of confidence and now we have to take that forward."