Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has vowed to arrest his side’s decline after yesterday’s defeat to struggling Sunderland, saw the club drop to fifth in the Premier League, having collected just one point out of the last 18.

Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Sunderland represented another blow to Liverpool’s title pretensions and with the Reds now sitting five points behind leaders Arsenal, pressure on the Frenchman continues to grow.

‘This is the worst month I have ever experienced,’ Houllier admitted.

‘It’s a very difficult period, but we will get through that, we will overcome that,’ said Houllier.

‘We showed quite a lot of character in the second-half and played at a higher tempo and I feel extremely sorry for the players really.

‘I share their sadness because they deserved something out of the game. How on earth can we go out of this stadium with nothing? I can’t believe it.

‘When you lose games like that, one of two things can happen. First of all, you can say ‘well okay, it doesn’t go our way and that’s it, or say ‘we’re looking for solutions and we’ll find solutions’.

‘Obviously, some of the players are not on top form at the moment, but still I think we should have won the game because we had enough chances to win.’

Sunderland’s win saw Howard Wilkinson’s side climb out of bottom three, although with 17 points from 18 matches, they remain perilously close to the relegation zone.