LONDON — Arne Slot insisted his philosophy of football hasn’t changed after questions over Liverpool’s attacking limitations grew following their 2-2 draw at Fulham on Sunday.

Slot has been accused of adopting a defensive approach in recent games as he looks to turn around Liverpool’s season after a horrific first half that included a run of nine losses in 12 games.

Liverpool looked set to take all three points at Craven Cottage after Cody Gakpo’s 94th-minute strike. But Harrison Reed’s sensational effort just three minutes later held Slot’s side to a second successive draw.

As was the case in the goalless outing at Leeds on New Year’s Day, Liverpool dominated possession against Fulham but struggled to fashion many concrete chances. Their attacking output on Sunday was also diminished by the absence of top scorer Hugo Ekitike through injury.

“I think we showed great resilience from the start if you miss out on so many attacking options and you come here against Fulham and they’re a good team having good ideas about football and we hardly conceded any chances against them,” Slot told a post-match news conference.

“I think they had one other chance in the second half when we maybe messed it up a little bit ourselves when they had a chip on the bar. But for the rest, I think we controlled the game.

“And yes, I would love us to create more from our ball possession, I can tell you this. My philosophy of football hasn’t changed. This year compared to all the seasons I was a manager before, we have to do it with the players that we have available, and I think today 11 very good football players were on the pitch.

“Maybe not all of them in their normal position, but in the first half they controlled the game. Just before they scored, we had exactly the same chance from Cody Gakpo, which went on the other side of the post. And in the second half, two disallowed goals, two girls scored, a header on the bar. So things to like but the result is again not what we may deserve.”

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When pressed on if his side have sacrificed creativity for solidity, Slot said: “I would love to create five times as many chances as we do now and not concede a chance at all.

“But I do know in the period of time when we were playing, maybe either with different players or more open that we … I don’t think we created more chances, but we conceded much more. And unfortunately, we don’t concede a lot at the moment in terms of chances, but goal wise, maybe not a lot has changed.

“But like I said, I didn’t change as a manager. I would love to play with eight attackers if that’s possible defensively as well, but if those eight attackers don’t defend enough, then it’s hard to win a game of football, but we don’t have eight attackers, so that’s not possible.”

On Ekitike’s injury, Slot said: “He travelled because he felt something during the training session. So he went for an MRI scan and we got the results when we were flying. So we were hoping that it was just a bit of DOMS [Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness]. .

“Why [did he get injured]? Because Alex [Isak] has been out and since Alex is out here, he [Ekitike] doesn’t play 70 minutes or 60 minutes or sometimes gets a bit of rest. He has to play 80 or 90 minutes every single game for the first time in his life at Premier League level.

“For the first time in his life [he never] had a winter break, for the first time in his life at Champions League level. So not a surprise that he then gets a bit tired and gets DOMS.

“And we were hoping it would have only been DOMS, then we could have used him maybe as a sub. But unfortunately, we saw a little bit more and then you cannot take a risk. “

Slot’s side next face leaders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.