Andy Carroll sported a Christmas shiner, but failed to
sparkle as Liverpool dropped yet more precious home points in a 1-1
draw with bottom side Blackburn.
Carroll, who collected his black eye in training at the end of
last week, was only one of several Reds guilty of missing good
chances.
It was good news for beleaguered Rovers boss Steve Kean, who
believes his side have shown the festive spirit to win over even
their own humbugging fans.
Anfield manager Kenny Dalglish admitted his side need to start
believing in themselves more when they see the white of the
keeper’s eyes.
He said: “My reaction seems to be the same as it has been after
so many games here: No complaints about the performance again, but
we have not converted the chances - it’s the same old story.
“Most of the things we did very well. We just need a bit more
belief in ourselves and maybe a goalkeeper coming here and having a
nightmare.
”The most important thing is our attitude, we are still
determined to get stuck in there, and we have to keep doing that,
and then things will come right.”
At least Dalglish finally got his skipper Steven Gerrard back,
with the midfielder returning as a second half substitute after
being absent for most of the season.
“It’s good to see Steven Gerrard back, he’s done really well in
training, he looks really fit, and he just needs some time on the
pitch now to get to full fitness,” the manager explained.
Under-siege Kean was overjoyed with the perfect Christmas gift
of an unexpected point at Anfield, as his team battled bravely
against an under-par Liverpool.
And, after his team celebrated a late save by Mark Bunn as if he
had stopped a penalty, Kean insisted he can still turn things
around despite being anchored at the foot of the table, because he
has the full support of those battling players.
“I think our spirit has always been there to see, and if anybody
thought it wasn’t then they are pulling the wool over their own
eyes,” he said.
“I hope I can win the supporters round. You can see there is
belief in the team, you can see they are prepared to dig in and
give it everything, and I hope the supporters can see that and get
behind us.
”We haven’t got as many results as we should have got, but we
have still shown spirit, and we’ll do that at Old Trafford next.
There are two ways to go at it, you can have fear, or you can go
there and not leave any regrets out on the pitch. We did that here,
and we will go to United with the same attitude.
“It’s a patched-up team, we’ve got so many players injured at
the moment, we lost our keeper and we had to give a teenager his
debut. But they are digging in magnificently. They put in such an
effort, and they deserved what they got.”
Stand-in keeper Bunn produced a fine display, and 17 -year-old
debutant Adam Henley performed heroics when he cleared from his own
line with the last kick of the game.
