Houllier fury as Carragher out for six months

LUCAS NEILL yesterday delivered a get-well-soon message to stricken Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and insisted there had been no malicious intent in the tackle that hurt him.

Carragher has been ruled out for at least six months because of a broken leg sustained in a challenge with Neill, which earned the Blackburn player a red card in Saturday's encounter at Ewood Park.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier is calling for an extension to Neill's three-match automatic suspension. The Australian, however, protested his innocence. "It is very sad for Jamie and I feel deeply sorry for him," he said.

"No-one likes to hear of any player being injured, especially for the long term, but there was absolutely no intent on my part I simply went to play the ball. I am an aggressive and committed player that is part of my game but I play it fairly.

"I pass on my best wishes to Jamie for a speedy recovery and hope at some stage to be able to see him and shake his hand."

Houllier branded the challenge during Liverpool's 3-1 victory as "cowardly". He said "Blackburn have lost a player for three games and we have lost one for six months. You know as well as I do how important Carragher is to my team. In France there was a case where a player injured another with a bad tackle, which forced him out of the game for two months.

"The French FA banned the player responsible for the same length of time. I think Neill deserves more than three games for the way he behaved. I am gutted. To break a leg when a player is wearing shinpads takes something."

Carragher is trying to remain upbeat despite suffering the injury. "I hope I am walking again before my 10-month-old son. I am sick as I have had such a good record with injuries throughout my career and, touch wood, that will continue when I get over this."

Souness, who played for and managed Liverpool, said that while Neill's challenge warranted a red card it was not malicious. He offered his best wishes to Carragher and Milan Baros, who broke his ankle in the game.

"It wasn't a dirty game, it was a competitive game, before anyone starts to create a big thing out of it. I can put my hand on my heart and tell you there was no intent on my players' part to do anyone any harm on Saturday.

"There is no issue between me and Liverpool. I have seen the tackle again on TV and it looked like a sending off to me but it wasn't malicious."