In a game of few clear-cut goalscoring opportunities the Reds failed to break down a stubborn Rovers rearguard and their Champions League qualification aspirations were made to pay as a consequence.

This hugely disappointing results means now they trail the Blues by seven points going into Sunday's 201st Merseyside derby and watching Toffees boss David Moyes will have left Anfield with little to worry about.

With the need for maximum points a necessity, Rafael Benitez made three changes to the side that had started last week's Champions League tie in Leverkusen. As expected, Fernando Morientes returned but there was widespread surprise at the decision not to start with Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise, both of whom dropped to the bench.

FA Cup semi-finalists Blackburn also had some notable absentees among their first eleven, with quarter-final match winner Paul Dickov and ex-Red Davey Thompson both ruled out late through injury.

A lacklustre first half saw the Reds play some neat football at times but the killer finish was lacking. Neither goalkeeper has had a save of note to make and the highlight of a pretty poor opening 45 minutes was an impressive run and cross from the left by man-of-the-match Stephen Warnock after 19 minutes and a close-range effort that Mauricio Pellegrino blazed over shortly before the interval.

As the game wore on the sense of anxiety among the crowd became increasingly evident and the mood was not helped three minutes after the restart when Milan Baros spurned a glorious opportunity, blazing high and wide from inside the box after Riise, on as a substitute for Smicer, had cut in menacingly from the left.

Riise then drilled low free-kick narrowlywide of the upright but the expected second half onslaught failed to materialise and Steven Reid could have snatched the points for the visitors with an equally well-struck set-piece at the opposite end 12 minutes from time.

Fortunately, it was just off target but come the final whistle the atmosphere around Anfield couldn't have much worse if it had have gone in.

Without a doubt, this was a case of two points dropped rather than a point gained and a glance at the League table tonight suggests it's now going to be an uphill task to achieve a top four finish.

Victory on Sunday could reignite our challenge but if that is to happen then the performance will have to be much-improved on what we saw tonight.