A late miss from Michael Owen ensured that the Reds would only leave the Reebok Stadium with a point, yet Gerard Houllier had only words of comfort for his star striker.
Houllier said: "He is there now with his fitness. But he needs a goal, and the goal will come. I have total faith in him, and he works very hard for the team as well. I am happy with the performance but disappointed with the result."
Steven Gerrard, scorer of Liverpool's leveller following yet another captain's display, also won high praise from his manager.
Houllier added: You are always relying on your star players. Steven is a great captain - he leads by example. He looked a bit down at half-time - but he responded right away."
Despite the superlatives for his key players still ringing in the ear, Houllier couldn't hide his frustration after a third consecutive league draw that leaves Liverpool languishing sixth in the Premiership table.
"When you look at the number of chances we created here we should have scored more goals," admitted Houllier.
"Instead, we found ourselves 1-0 down. But credit to the players - they responded well in the second half, and we equalised.
"Then they scored a second goal, which should not have been. The throw was our throw. I don't know how the linesman missed that one. Fortunately we drew level. This is a difficult place to come. They are a good side with a lot of character."