Benítez Defiant on Top-four Finish After Losing to West Ham

Rafael Benítez claimed last night that Liverpool would still finish in the Premier League's top four despite a 1-0 defeat at West Ham leaving them in seventh place and trailing Manchester United and Arsenal at the top by a distant 17 points.

The Spaniard, who said he expected to be given time by the club's American owners to turn round a stuttering season, cut a dejected figure here as his side missed a series of chances and then, in the third minute of injury-time, conceded a penalty when Jamie Carragher tripped Fredrik Ljungberg after West Ham had raced upfield from a Liverpool corner. Mark Noble converted confidently to hoist West Ham within reach of the race for a Uefa Cup place and condemn Benítez's side to a fifth league game without a win.

Asked whether he was confident Liverpool would still qualify for Europe next term, the manager said: "Yes. The Champions League." His short, sharp answers to questions thereafter betrayed a man weighed down by his side's shortcomings. He was asked what was going wrong, only to cling to what meager positives he could glean from another chastening evening. "Did you think we deserved to lose today? I think we deserved to win. We will improve. We can improve."

Had the uncertainty surrounding the club's ownership, now firmly in the control of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, affected his team? "Everything is behind us," he said. "We will start thinking about winning games. That's our idea. It depends whether you analyze the game or if you just analyze the result. I don't know whether [the American owners] have a television so I don't know what they think." But was he confident he would be given time to turn this around? "Yes. We are only thinking about a win.

"We did everything we could to win it today but in the end we made a mistake. We created chances. We had some good opportunities but we didn't take them. Sometimes it's not just because their goalkeeper makes a save. Other times we need to shoot on target when we get in good positions. But all we can do is think about improving, taking our chances and winning some games."