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Jurgen Klopp insists there is much more to come from his resurgent Liverpool side as he revealed that the one setback of his Anfield reign still rankles.

The Reds boss has overseen six wins and three draws during his opening 10 games in charge ahead of Wednesday night’s Capital One Cup quarter-final with Southampton.

Liverpool’s fortunes have been transformed but Klopp is refusing to get carried away. The memory of last month’s home defeat to Crystal Palace remains fresh in his mind.

“Maybe we could have done better so far, but it is okay,” Klopp said.

“We are not even halfway into the season. We have not had a long time together.

“I think we are giving the players as much information as we can. Every day, if I tell them all things I know, for sure it would be too much. It is all about timing. The right amount of information is very important.

“We don’t want them going on to the pitch with their papers thinking ‘what is point three?’. We are just looking for the next step.

“Until now it’s been okay. I’d really like to change my personality but I can’t forget this ****ing loss against Crystal Palace! If we had won this maybe then I would have said it was more than okay.”

'In a perfect world we would have more time to train'

The trip to St Mary’s represents Liverpool’s fourth game in the space of just 11 days. There has been little time to prepare for the clash with Saints on the back of Sunday’s hard-fought league win over Swansea.

It’s the first of three successive away games as the Reds head for Newcastle in the league on Sunday prior to next week’s final Europa League group game at FC Sion.

Klopp admits the hectic schedule will test the depth of his squad but insists Liverpool are embracing the demands of competing on all fronts.

“If you ask the players, they will tell you that they want to play,” he said.

“It was not my idea to have more games, another cup and no winter break. You have had this for 25 years. I knew that you played very often when I came here and that is what we are doing.

“If you have a squad with 40 players I have no problems (with the schedule) but then I have other problems! Then our discussions would be about ‘why is he not playing?’.

“In a perfect world we would have more time to train. I came here in October, so no time for pre-season. It’s okay, I don’t think we’ve done too bad until now. I’m not sitting in my office thinking ‘too many games’.”

Klopp, who tasted defeat at Wembley with Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League final against Bayern Munich, has vowed to pick a team he believes is strong enough to keep the Reds’ hopes of glory alive.

'Nobody should be doubting our ambitions in this tournament'

Victory over Ronald Koeman’s side would put Liverpool into the last four of the League Cup for a record 16th time.

“Do I want to make Wembley a better place for me? I’d like to think about this the evening before we play at Wembley and not today. I don’t need motivation like this to think ‘come on’,” Klopp said.

“I don’t look at my diary and think I can change things at Wembley. The final is too far away. But nobody should be doubting our ambitions in this tournament.

“We have an away game so we are not the favourites. But we are going there to be real competitors and at the end we will see what happens.

“Nobody has said to me ‘yeah, go out of the League Cup so we have more time to train’. Our situation is that we are in all competitions. That is what we enjoy.”

Daniel Sturridge is likely to be on the bench at St Mary’s as he builds up match fitness following his second-half comeback against Swansea.

Klopp insists his comments last week about the difference between “serious pain and just pain” wasn’t a criticism of the England striker, who had missed the nine previous matches with minor knee and foot problems.

“Maybe it was my fault because of the language but I thought I had said ‘we all have to learn’,” Klopp added.

“I read somewhere that ‘Daniel Sturridge has to learn’ what is serious pain and what is pain. We all have to learn. That is what we have to do.

“With his injury history, he has had 20 injuries, you cannot be treated like a normal player. If someone has more injuries than someone else, then they will be more in doubt about things that happen.

“I have only been here for six weeks and we are in a different situation when we talk about Daniel. It is not because of his qualities, it is only because of his history.

“That is what we try to do together. Nobody is alone at Melwood. We are all together. We have to give the right advice in the right moment. When we all decide ‘yes, go’ then we have to trust each other.

“That’s what we will all learn and do better and better and better. That’s what I was trying to say. That we will all learn, not just Daniel.”