MOTD Highlights - Liverpool vs Birmingham

Rafa Benitez rued his side's failiure to convert dominance into goals following a Saturday stalemate with Birmingham.
The Spaniard also explained the omission of Fernando Torres from his starting XI, telling reporters it was a tactical decision.

He said: "You must be frustrated because you know before that you must win this kind of game. You could see we were attacking, attacking, attacking – especially in the first half.

"Clear chances are really difficult when the opponents play so deep. We had a lot of shots but they were off target.

"We tried in the wide areas, we tried to get crosses in – everything. It was really difficult but if you have some chances you must take them."

Benitez added: "We knew they would be deep and narrow and compact, so we needed the strikers to play between the lines.

"Kuyt and Voronin can do this. After, when we needed fresh legs, we brought on Fernando, but you could see how many times he got behind defenders – never. That's because there was no space."

The Liverpool boss also revealed that Jermaine Pennant and Javier Mascherano both picked up knocks, though neither is thought to be serious.