Liverpool’s Stewart Downing: We are facing a big week in our season

Stewart Downing believes Liverpool are facing a “big week” in their season with a difficult trip to Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday before facing Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley next weekend.

The Reds rescued a point against Aston Villa on Saturday after Luis Suárez’s 82nd minute equaliser cancelled out Chris Herd’s opener after 10 minutes at Anfield.

Downing admitted Liverpool, who are without a win in four games and have one victory in nine attempts in the Premier League, need to remain positive if they want to end their miserable run.

The 26-year-old remains confident the Reds can win both games if Kenny Dalglish’s side can repeat their second half performance against Villa.

“We’ve got a big game [at Blackburn] to prepare for it and it’s a big week for the club,” Downing told Liverpool’s website.

“It has to be a case of picking up where we left off [against Villa].

“We have to keep drumming the same message into ourselves – keep being positive, keep creating chances and it will fall for us in the end.

“Obviously you can’t keep going on a run like this where we keep missing chances. It will turn and hopefully at Blackburn we will get three points.”

“It would be nice to get a win before the semi-final.

“Form goes out of the window for a semi-final, but I still think you need to go into it with a bit of form and players who are playing with good confidence.”