Houllier looks forward to Champions League charge

Gerard Houllier insists he has “no regrets” over the manner of Liverpool’s elimination from the UEFA Cup.

The Reds boss has no alternative now but to turn his attention to the battle to finish fourth in the Barclaycard Premiership and thereby qualify for the Champions League preliminary rounds.

The next obstacle on their path to that goal is a club in an even more parlous state – Leeds, who have former Everton hero Peter Reid in caretaker control following Terry Venables’ departure yesterday.

Houllier joked: “The good thing is that the focus will be on Peter, all the cameras, and that’s just as well.

“And anyway, I have no doubts that Leeds will be all right, I don’t think they are in danger of going down.

“It’s not for me to comment on what has happened at Leeds, anyway, I’m friends with both people involved.

“The Leeds game, like all the remaining eight matches, is vital for the rest of our season. After it there’s an international fortnight so the next time we play will be at Manchester United.”

Beyond that, Liverpool have to gain favourable results from away clashes with two other teams chasing the final Champions League berth – Everton and Chelsea - and Houllier is confident.

He added: “We do well when we play away, we have had good wins on difficult grounds. The good thing is that we play our main rivals for fourth spot, Everton and Chelsea, both away from home.

“There are maybe six teams that can get to fourth, but we intend it to be us.

“It depends on Blackburn’s run, there are other teams behind us. There’s more than just three in this race.”

But even with the bitter taste of defeat in Europe now a couple of days old, Houllier still is unable to let go.

He admits: “I watched the match on video that night and there were defining moments when we should have scored and didn’t, then they got a goal from a free-kick that shouldn’t have been given, it wasn’t a foul.

“There was also a penalty we should have had too when Danny Murphy was appealing for hands.

“We pushed and lacked a bit of creativity. The reaction of the players to get back into the game deserved more than we got.”

He added: “It was a disappointment, not in terms of effort or passion because it was an exciting game, but only in terms of the result.

“If we finish in the top four I would regard that as a successful season, that has always been the target.

“It didn’t go our way. I have told the players that the European journey is over and now let’s turn to the league and our sights are still to get into the top four, and we have every intention of doing that.

“It’s a disappointing part of football life, but also part of it is the character you show on the back of such disappointment.”

Houllier’s disappointment and defiance was mirrored by German midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who said: “The only thing we have left to play for now is the league.

“We have to finish in the top four of the Premiership because we all want to be playing Champions League football next season. There are eight games left to play and we still have every chance of making it.

“We didn’t play well enough to deserve anything against Celtic. It was harsh on us when they scored so close to half-time, but in the second half we didn’t create enough chances.”