We're not finished

Houllier, who before the game had warned his side that they could not afford any more defeats if they were to make a Champions League place, feels his side still have much to play for.

He said: "It's not finished. We have ten games still to play and we know what we have to do. But we're not out of it. I told the players that the good thing is we are now entering a stage of the season where we do well historically.

"We didn't show a lack of desire today. Birmingham started the game well and then when they scored they had something to hang on to. We tried to change things in the second half tactically and the turning point was when they scored the second. Before that I was just waiting for our equaliser to come along because I knew it would do. It is very frustrating.

"We were missing some players today and we had a hard game in France on Thursday. Maybe that, along with the travel, had an effect."