Liverpool manager Graeme Souness stressed that two defeats in three games had not dented their confidence and he insisted that Neil Ruddock would be fit to face Blackburn that week. The reds’ defender had been suffering from a wisdom tooth extraction. But while Souness was determined to have Ruddock in his line up, he rated groin victim Jan Molby’s chances as “50-50”. Souness who was still pained by the defeat at Coventry nine days earlier wanted Blackburn to feel the force of a backlash of a team whose morale remained as high as it was after three consecutive wins at the start of the season.
Graeme Souness said “There’s nothing wrong with our confidence because we didn’t deserve to lose either of those games and the players know it. We weren’t as fired up as we should have been at Coventry but the fans don’t want to hear that.”