Liverpool are to appeal against the two red cards shown by Lee Mason, the referee, within four minutes of each other at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The club feel that Philipp Degen’s foul on Clint Dempsey merited a booking rather than a sending-off, while Jamie Carragher claims he made contact with the ball as he tangled with Bobby Zamora.

“I thought Degen’s red card was a bit harsh,” Carragher said. “He did not go in two-footed. With mine, I felt it was wrong at the time and I felt I got a toe to the ball. The referee was not in the greatest position and it is always a dead giveaway when the player you are tackling says at the time that I won the ball. Zamora actually turned to me and said I had won the ball, so that says it all.”

Carragher’s view was echoed by Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager. “It was a lunging tackle,” Hodgson said of Degen’s challenge. “It wasn’t dangerous because Dempsey did so well to get out of the way. I don’t think there was anything vicious about it. Had he not been sent off I certainly wouldn’t have been protesting, but on the other hand I can’t say the referee made a bad decision, either.”

However, Hodgson said that once a foul was given against Carragher, he had to be sent off because he was the last defender. “I don’t think the referee has any alternative,” he said.

Liverpool’s poor run of form is difficult to accept, according to Carragher. “This is un-Liverpool like,” the defender said. “But it is not just the fans who are disappointed, it is the players, the staff and manager.”

Rafael Benítez refused to accept that his side’s five league defeats spell the end of the club’s title challenge and his judgment was backed by Hodgson. “I think they probably can [win the title] because this year there is a risk that the top teams will lose more games probably than they have in the past,” Hodgson said. “I would be the last man to write them off.”