Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier appears to have written off Liverpool's Premiership title challenge after they lost 1-0 to Newcastle last night.
The Reds were beaten by a first half deflected Laurent Robert free-kick, and had their misery compounded when Salif Diao sent off for two bookable offences on a night that left them twelve points behind pace-setters Arsenal.
In a night where the conditions played a major factor, Houllier admitted that the better team won on the night and said "They won the battle. It was very physical, and they were better than us in that area. I think we were a bit surprised by the pitch conditions - but we have to recognise they were better than us on the day."
"The wall for the free-kick with which Robert scored was not good enough, but it happens sometimes. The sending-off was the right decision. I can't argue about that - he had to do it," he added.
And while he insisted that Liverpool can end their run of ten games without victory, he admitted that he could not see them catching up with Arsenal at the top of the table. "We have the quality to get out of this run. Some players were missing today - but we have the personnel to turn things around, not a problem. I think it will be difficult to catch Arsenal now. I acknowledge it will be difficult and I can't see them dropping 12 points."
Filed by Rob Wright
