Houllier: Owen's confidence is fine

The England striker missed a number of chances which could have set Liverpool on their way to victory against Crystal Palace. The Reds boss, though, believes that Owen is not suffering from the burden of pressure brought upon him by his drastic loss of form.

Houllier said: "Michael missed chances and others missed but at least we created them. I don't think Michael's confidence has been affected. He had four or five chances in the first half.

"The finishing was not in relation to the quality of the football we were playing at times. Our strikers are young and the main thing for them is to keep faith."