Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl couldn't criticise his players after defeat at home to Liverpool.

Saints were ahead through Nathan Redmond before the Reds struck via Joel Matip and Takumi Minamino for the 2-1 Liverpool win.

Hasenhuttl later said: "We tried our maximum today. The second goal we conceded was a little but frustrating. It was not really necessary to concede in that moment. They didn't have a lot of chances in the second half but you can see the quality they have.

"We had the perfect start with the first goal. It was a beautiful goal for the equaliser. In the end they defended a little deep and we had a few moments we could have maybe scored. We tried our best, made it as tough as possible for them but in the end it was enough for them.

"It is not easy to surprise them but we tried our best."

On this season, he added: "Like always a lot of ups and downs. We had the 40 points relatively early to stay in the league but couldn't manage again to be higher. We must not forget that before this season they had us on the list to be relegated because we lost our best striker.

"We have a lot of things to do in the summer."