An early injury to Danny Murphy, of course, led to the early arrival of Gerrard who soon showed all the qualities that make him such an integral part of the Liverpool side.
Houllier explained: "It was a case of 'best laid plans' going wrong. Steven has a very big match for England coming up in Turkey and we have some important matches too.
"I wanted to give him a rest, but in the end the plan did not work because of Danny's injury. Danny will have a couple of days' treatment and we will have to wait to see whether he will be fit to play at Charlton on Sunday."