Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is backing misfiring striker Dirk Kuyt to come good despite the Holland international being woefully out of form.
Kuyt could easily have had a second half hat-trick in Saturday's goalless draw at Blackburn and his current malaise was summed up two minutes from time when he blazed over from six yards with just goalkeeper Brad Friedel to beat.
The 27-year-old scored 14 times after his £9million transfer from Feyenoord in August last year but has struggled this season.
And although his work-rate remains among the best in the Barclays Premier League, his touch appears to have deserted him.
He has three goals in 13 matches this campaign but two of those were penalties in the Merseyside derby victory and the Dutchman is patently struggling.
However, with record signing Fernando Torres expected to be out for at least another couple of weeks with a torn adductor and Peter Crouch out of favour, Benitez has little option but to persist with Kuyt.
"When you miss chances and you have two or three, it means you are there. If you are not there, you cannot miss the chance," said the Spaniard after watching his side waste numerous opportunities in the second half at Ewood Park.
"I will not criticise Kuyt because he plays a lot of games and over 90 minutes his work rate is fantastic.
"He is creating chances. When you have a player who can create three or four chances for himself, normally sometimes he will score so I think I must be pleased and positive with Kuyt.
"We need to profit from the work he is doing up front and it will be easier for him to score if his team-mates can score the first goal."
Unfortunately his team-mates were in no better form when it came to beating Friedel, who denied Steven Gerrard twice and Ryan Babel before Crouch saw a header cleared off the line by David Bentley.
And to be fair to Kuyt, until Crouch's 72nd-minute arrival, he spent much of the match isolated up front as Benitez's tactic of playing Gerrard in a supporting role did not come off.
The draw - Liverpool's fifth in seven matches since they briefly went top of the table with a 6-0 win over Derby in early September - dropped the Anfield side to seventh.
However, they are only six points behind leaders Arsenal and have a match in hand of many of their rivals.
Benitez remains confident he can re-ignite the Reds as they head into the potentially-damaging November to January period.
"I said at the start of the season this one would be more difficult for everyone and you can see it is not easy to win games in a row," he added.
"With one game in hand, we can keep the team close to the top of the table. We have Daniel Agger, Xabi Alonso (both broken metatarsals), Fernando Torres coming back and I think we will be stronger in the next few months."
In contrast, Blackburn are exceeding expectations, one place above Liverpool having lost just one of their last 17 league matches.
With more good fortune, they could have been in the top four today as the woodwork twice denied them in the first half, while they had a shout for a penalty after the interval when Andre Ooijer's shot hit Jamie Carragher's outstretched arm.
In-form strikers Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz proved a handful throughout but it was Bentley who almost broke the deadlock with a shot that hit the outside of a post in the 35th minute.
Just seconds before the break, David Dunn's 20-yard strike with his weaker left foot bounced away to safety off the underside of the crossbar.
Had either of those chances gone in, the result could have been different but Rovers ended up clinging on to a point in a frenzied last 10 minutes.
"We have gone up against three of the top four (Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool) and we are unbeaten against them," said satisfied manager Mark Hughes.
"We have got Manchester United at the weekend and hopefully we can get the full set."
Hughes realistically admits his side will probably not sustain their challenge long enough to be in contention for Champions League places at the end of the season.
However, that will not stop him dreaming.
"It is a long season and we just have to be fortunate with injuries. We will be in the mix-up," Hughes said.
"Whether we will actually get one (a top-four place) is open to debate but we will be very much in the make up of the games to affect who gets in the Champions League.
"It is very difficult to break into the top four. Last year, Manchester United were champions of the Premier League and they go out and spend £50million."
Kuyt could easily have had a second half hat-trick in Saturday's goalless draw at Blackburn and his current malaise was summed up two minutes from time when he blazed over from six yards with just goalkeeper Brad Friedel to beat.
The 27-year-old scored 14 times after his £9million transfer from Feyenoord in August last year but has struggled this season.
And although his work-rate remains among the best in the Barclays Premier League, his touch appears to have deserted him.
He has three goals in 13 matches this campaign but two of those were penalties in the Merseyside derby victory and the Dutchman is patently struggling.
However, with record signing Fernando Torres expected to be out for at least another couple of weeks with a torn adductor and Peter Crouch out of favour, Benitez has little option but to persist with Kuyt.
"When you miss chances and you have two or three, it means you are there. If you are not there, you cannot miss the chance," said the Spaniard after watching his side waste numerous opportunities in the second half at Ewood Park.
"I will not criticise Kuyt because he plays a lot of games and over 90 minutes his work rate is fantastic.
"He is creating chances. When you have a player who can create three or four chances for himself, normally sometimes he will score so I think I must be pleased and positive with Kuyt.
"We need to profit from the work he is doing up front and it will be easier for him to score if his team-mates can score the first goal."
Unfortunately his team-mates were in no better form when it came to beating Friedel, who denied Steven Gerrard twice and Ryan Babel before Crouch saw a header cleared off the line by David Bentley.
And to be fair to Kuyt, until Crouch's 72nd-minute arrival, he spent much of the match isolated up front as Benitez's tactic of playing Gerrard in a supporting role did not come off.
The draw - Liverpool's fifth in seven matches since they briefly went top of the table with a 6-0 win over Derby in early September - dropped the Anfield side to seventh.
However, they are only six points behind leaders Arsenal and have a match in hand of many of their rivals.
Benitez remains confident he can re-ignite the Reds as they head into the potentially-damaging November to January period.
"I said at the start of the season this one would be more difficult for everyone and you can see it is not easy to win games in a row," he added.
"With one game in hand, we can keep the team close to the top of the table. We have Daniel Agger, Xabi Alonso (both broken metatarsals), Fernando Torres coming back and I think we will be stronger in the next few months."
In contrast, Blackburn are exceeding expectations, one place above Liverpool having lost just one of their last 17 league matches.
With more good fortune, they could have been in the top four today as the woodwork twice denied them in the first half, while they had a shout for a penalty after the interval when Andre Ooijer's shot hit Jamie Carragher's outstretched arm.
In-form strikers Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz proved a handful throughout but it was Bentley who almost broke the deadlock with a shot that hit the outside of a post in the 35th minute.
Just seconds before the break, David Dunn's 20-yard strike with his weaker left foot bounced away to safety off the underside of the crossbar.
Had either of those chances gone in, the result could have been different but Rovers ended up clinging on to a point in a frenzied last 10 minutes.
"We have gone up against three of the top four (Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool) and we are unbeaten against them," said satisfied manager Mark Hughes.
"We have got Manchester United at the weekend and hopefully we can get the full set."
Hughes realistically admits his side will probably not sustain their challenge long enough to be in contention for Champions League places at the end of the season.
However, that will not stop him dreaming.
"It is a long season and we just have to be fortunate with injuries. We will be in the mix-up," Hughes said.
"Whether we will actually get one (a top-four place) is open to debate but we will be very much in the make up of the games to affect who gets in the Champions League.
"It is very difficult to break into the top four. Last year, Manchester United were champions of the Premier League and they go out and spend £50million."
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