The Anfield boss was talking after a week which has seen his side slip to their third Barclays Premier League defeat of the season - at West Ham - while senior player Jamie Carragher has admitted that the title is now beyond them.

Benitez said: "Players must look at themselves and say 'how can I improve?' That is what we must do, everyone must improve."

"The team have quality and now we need to show our supporters that the commitment is there and we want to progress. We will do it.

"This has been a frustrating time for me as a manager and we must play well and give our supporters something to make them happy.

"They are always fantastic with us, with me, with the team. We have drawn too many and then to lose like we did at West Ham means we have to do our best now and give our supporters something to be proud of.

"The confidence is low, but I do not like to criticise the players. If they work hard, that's okay.

"If you have to say anything to them it must be done in the dressing room.

"We know we need to improve - our supporters deserve more than they are seeing."

Benitez, without long-term injured pair Andriy Voronin and Alvaro Arbeloa for Saturday's visit of Sunderland, added: "This is a very, very special club and we are really lucky because we have the support of the best fans in the world.

"When things are not going so well it is vital everyone at the club does everything we can to make things better.

"We have to have pride in the shirt, pride in the club that we work for and pride in the fans that we represent.

"We cannot feel sorry for ourselves or wish that things were different because that changes nothing.

"The only way things will get better for us is if we make it happen.

"Everyone must improve - the staff and the players. We have been talking about this with some individuals and some others in groups."

The Spaniard continued: "I am not the kind of manager who just dismisses things as bad luck and says 'what can we do?' The only way is to work harder.

"You cannot say things are impossible. We know we can do it so we must do it, we were doing it before and we must start doing it right now.

"We were thinking we were contenders and maybe we cannot be now, so we need to concentrate on each game and make sure we take three points.

"If fourth position is the target, we must not allow ourselves to think it is the end of the world. Commitment and hard work from everyone is the only way to change this situation.

"We have shown we have quality and character and we must show this again. We cannot just complain about everything, we must do the job.

"It is not a question of one player, but all of them. It is a question of two, three, five players who all must improve."

Javier Mascherano returns after suspension, with Benitez certain an £18.6million deal is close, after receiving verbal agreements on turning the loan into a permanent move.

He explained: "We are trying to finish the deal, we have a lot of confidence he will be staying with us.

"His commitment is not questioned and the fans know he is very important to us.

"The club are working towards a conclusion. The owners are showing they want to improve the squad, that is what is important.

"I have talked with Javier's agent and his owner, and everything is progressing. We have everything in a contract so I would hope it will sorted out in a couple of days.

"We have his registration, he is our player until the summer, so we can sign him when we want. It does not have to be concluded in the transfer window.

"We have an option to buy him, I am confident it will all be concluded soon."