Julen Lopetegui has said that his Wolverhampton Wanderers side 'did not follow the game plan' during their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Having powered past the Merseyside giants in the reverse fixture at the beginning of February, Wolves had high hopes of recording a rare double over their more illustrious opponents.
For three quarters of the contest at Anfield, Wolves were able to keep their hosts at bay as they looked to record another point towards survival in the top flight.
However, just six minutes after VAR had intervened to chalk off a Darwin Nunez goal, Liverpool scored twice in quick succession through Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
As a result, Wolves remain in 15th position in the Premier League standings, three points clear of the bottom three but having played one more fixture than some of the team below them.
With Liverpool and Manchester City out of the way for the remainder of the season, Lopetegui will hope that Wolves can make more of an impact against other teams in the division.
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Nevertheless, the Spaniard acknowledged that he felt in a downbeat mood after his players failed to replicate their efforts of the opening 45 minutes.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Lopetegui said: "I think that we did not play in the game plan we had in our head. In the first half much better, in the second we did not keep the ball.
"It was a shame, but they deserved to win. Today is not easy for me to keep positive thinking, maybe in a few days."
In a separate interview with Premier League Productions, the former Sevilla boss added: "Maybe we could have disrupted their rhythm. We weren't able to do much damage in the space. We put Adama [Traore] on but didn't find the moment, they were aggressive on the press.
"In the first half we overcome some moments on this press, in the second half no."
Wolves face another of the Premier League's biggest clubs on Saturday when they play host to Tottenham Hotspur.
Darren Plant
