Carragher: No Quickfix For Liverpool

JAMIE CARRAGHER today warned Liverpool 's supporters to steel themselves as he warned there will be no quick fix to the club 's current position. Though the Reds retained their place at the top of Europa League Group K last night with a 0-0 draw against FC Utrecht, Carragher admitted the performance was not up to scratch. In keeping with many of the performances during the opening stages of the campaign, Liverpool rarely threatened to create a glut of chances and were ultimately happy with a share of the spoils. But, as Carragher explained, Liverpool are in a transitional period and having experienced the early parts of both the reigns of Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez, he expects there will be more bumps to encounter in the coming months. "It's a good point," said Carragher, who captained the side in Steven Gerrard 's absence. "But we all know that we can improve on the performance. In the new format of the Europa League, you 've got to try and win your home games first of all. "If you then follow up by not losing your away games, you are doing okay and that 's what we have done but we know we can get better. "This is a work in progress. We are steadily getting there and if we can get three points at the weekend, we 'll head into the two week break looking forward to the derby. "I know everyone thinks that when you get a new manager, you start winning every week but in Gerard Houllier 's first season we finished seventh and in Rafa's we finished fifth. "It's not always a case that when you bring in a new manager everything changes – we finished seventh last year because we were the seventh best team in the league. "We are not all of a sudden going to be pulling up trees left, right and centre. As I said, it 's a work in progress and we have to work through it. " Liverpool sign off before the two-week international break with a home game against Blackpool on Sunday and they will be long odds-on favourites to record only their second win in the Premier League. Carragher, however, knows that only a dramatic improvement on recent offerings will enable Liverpool to get the confidence- boosting result they need ahead of what is shaping up to be one of the most crucial Merseyside derbies in recent years on October 17. "We said that we needed a win against Sunderland after the Northampton game, didn 't we? – every game you play for Liverpool is vital. " said Carragher. "When you have the two-week break, you feel good if you go into it with a win and it is something that we will be looking to do. "But Blackpool have been the story of the season. They will be desperate to make a statement at Anfield and it 's up to us to match their enthusiasm." Meanwhile, the kick-off time of Liverpool 's game at Bolton Wanderers on October 31 has been pushed back; it was scheduled to begin at 1.30pm but it now a 4pm start.