BENITEZ: FOURTH IS OURS
Rafael Benitez praised his side's second-half display after they fought back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City and all-but clinch a top four finish.
The result means the Reds are now nine points clear of fifth placed Everton with just three games remaining for David Moyers' side, and thanks to a vastly superior goal difference, Benitez feels his team can now focus on the Champions League meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday night safe in the knowledge that fourth place is in the bag.
"The idea was to win and guarantee fourth place," said Benitez.
"We didn't achieve that but a draw is another option and puts us in a very strong position. Now we can think about the next game against Chelsea and hopefully we can progress in the Champions League and be really focused in the final.
"I am really pleased with the second-half because I think that the team played much better. To score two goals in the second-half and create the chances we did was very, very positive.
"We started the game controlling things for the first 30 minutes but then we conceded the goal and we couldn't manage. So at half-time we talked about how we could improve and I think the mentality of the players was positive.
"You must guarantee the Champions League for next season. We are almost sure now in fourth position and so we can think about Chelsea.
"I'd like to finish as high as possible but sometimes this cannot happen and at the end you must be happy with the fourth position and happy if you do well in the Champions League."
The Reds boss made nine changes to the side that took on Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final first-leg at Anfield and admitted that the performances of both Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch had given him food for thought ahead of the decisive clash at Stamford Bridge.
"Pennant was a threat for them throughout the game and he is an option we have on the right side and when he is playing well he is really dangerous."
The Reds had looked on the verge of a fifth league defeat of the season until Crouch's 11th goal of the campaign and an OG from Raidi Jaidi cancelled out strikes from Mikael Forssell and Sebastian Larsson.
The Reds boss can now approach the game with Avram Grant's men in good spiirts after reporting that his players had come through the match with Birmingham unscathed.
Mathematically Liverpool have secured 4th place & unless Everton are able to win by 5 goals or more on their last 3 games (which i dun think they can 
), we can look forward to champions league participation next season.