Liverpool Football Club News

• Nickname:Reds
• Founded:1892
• Manager:Kenny Dalglish

• Ground:Anfield
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Benitez: It's going to be difficult

05 Apr 2010 - 10:19:04

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez admitted that his side's hopes of a top-four finish had taken a major blow in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

The Reds took the lead soon after half-time through Steven Gerrard, but the home side hit back to gain a point thanks to a Liam Ridgewell goal, before Benitez opted to replace a tiring Fernando Torres late on in the game.

He told the club's official website: "Yes, it's true it's going to be difficult, but we have to keep going.

"There are still a lot of points to play for. We were talking about maybe winning six games in a row, but we knew maybe we could have one draw. Now we have to win five.

"We didn't have much margin for error and now we have less margin, but that's football and it still depends on the other teams.

"We have to believe we can win games and have confidence that they will lose.

"It's not a good result because we deserved to win. We had a very good chance in the first half and a lot of them in the second half.

"We knew it was a tough place to come, but it's a pity, especially because we deserved to win even with some players tired after Thursday.

"Fernando was exhausted. He had some ice to protect his knee, but he was tired, like some of the other players who played on Thursday."