Dean Smith admits his Norwich City deserved nothing against Liverpool as he pointed to the difference made by the Anfield crowd.
The Reds came from 1-0 down to win 3-1 on Saturday and close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to six points with a game in hand.
Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah’s 150th goal for Liverpool and a debut strike for January signing Luis Diaz wiped out Milot Rashica’s opener shortly after half-time.
Liverpool were unconvincing in the first half but dominated the final hour after Thiago Alcantara and Divock Origi were introduced and the Reds switched to a 4-4-2.
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And Norwich boss Smith said: “I have to be honest and realistically we got what we deserved which was no points, but we can take an awful lot of confidence and belief from the performance.
“It was better than it was against Man City (against whom Norwich lost 4-0 last weekend). We asked some serious questions of a really good team and it took a front three of Salah, Mane and Diaz to ultimately take the points away from us.
“Our fate won’t be determined by games against City or Liverpool but we can take belief from it.”
Smith added: “Liverpool had to really dig deep to get the result. I wasn’t happy with our first 20 minutes, but when we got up to the ball a lot quicker we were more of a threat.
“We started the second half really well and at that time deserved the goal.
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“But we needed to see out a 10-15 minute spell when they put us under pressure and the decibels went up at Anfield and the subs made a difference for them as well.”
Smith was unhappy with the manner of his team’s defending for Salah’s goal, which came when the Egyptian raced on to a long clearance by Alisson Becker and held off three Norwich players before avoiding two on the goalline with his finish.
“It’s a great pass from the goalkeeper but it’s travelled 80 yards in the air to just outside our box with a deft touch from Salah,” said the Norwich boss.
“I wasn’t immediately concerned when Alisson had the ball. We know the capabilities the goalkeeper and Salah have. But defensively there’s something we could have done about it.”
