Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel admits they failed to recover from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona last summer.

The Uruguay striker joined the La Liga giants for £75m after he received a ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

"We failed because we did not meet the targets we have set," Skrtel said. "If we finish in fifth or sixth, it does not matter, we would still not qualified for the Champions League.

"The significant factor was the exit of Luis Suarez [to Barcelona last summer] and too many errors on the field. The squad was big enough.

"New players arrived and it is not always easy to acclimatise with the new club, so the first half of the season was difficult.

"The second part has been improved, but the conclusion was we did not reach our targets."