Virgil van Dijk has admitted it is “mentally very tough” for Liverpool after they were knocked out of the FA Cup as Manchester City thrashed them 4-0.

Liverpool go to Paris Saint-Germain for the Champions League quarter-final first leg this week with captain Van Dijk saying it will be hard to rouse them after they were left “very disappointed” by their poor display at the Etihad Stadium.

It was Liverpool’s 15th defeat of the campaign in all competitions and a downcast Van Dijk said that three-quarters of their season has been like this.

Asked if it was one of Liverpool’s most disappointing results and performances, he replied: “We’ve had a couple already this season. It’s mentally very tough at the moment, I must say.

“I’ve been there already many times this season when I’ve had hope and then we couldn’t build on performances. Today our second half, the intensity we didn’t match, the challenges we didn’t win, it was tough. To lose then 4-0 is tough.

“I am trying to think how we can turn it around but we have been going through this for almost 75 percent of the season. It definitely hurts me. So the focus is now on Paris away, but it’s tough. It will be a tough Sunday to digest it.”

Many of the Liverpool supporters left the Etihad Stadium long before the final whistle and Van Dijk did not blame them as he said sorry to them.

He added: “The fans were there to support us and I can only apologise to the fans for what we have shown, especially the second. I can understand the fans’ frustration as well.”

Four of the ever-present Championship sides since 2020-21 are also among the top six current second-tier clubs hardest hit by losses.

Bristol City (£111m), Preston (£84.4m), QPR (£82.9m) and Middlesbrough (£80.4m) have all failed to record a profit for five consecutive seasons – as have Derby, Millwall, Oxford, Portsmouth and Swansea.

Coventry City, who are on course to win promotion to the Premier League this season, have lost £29.5m in the past five years, while Ipswich Town are down £72.4m.

Maguire likened Championship owners striving for the top flight to “buying a EuroMillions ticket” with clubs chasing a TV deal worth £106m plus parachute payments in the Premier League compared to £12m in the second tier.

“If I’m a Championship owner, I know at the start of the season, in theory, I’ve got a one in eight chance of getting promoted,” he said, which is in turn causing owners to “act like the the bank of mum and dad”.

“They hand over money effectively unquestioningly, which is nominally a loan, but both parties know there is no chance of repayment.

“The owner of Stoke wrote off £90m, the Hemmings family in Preston put in £1m a month.

“And that now becomes the norm.”

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