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• Johnson calls on players to face crisis together
• Liverpool lose Riera and Benayoun to injury

Glen Johnson concedes Liverpool are in “awful” form as they confront the end of their Premier League title dreams.

Johnson was man of the match as Liverpool struggled to a 2-2 draw with Birmingham yesterday, their equaliser a hotly debated penalty converted by Steven Gerrard after David Ngog was accused of diving.

The result means Liverpool have won only one of their last nine matches and now face further injury problems, with Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun out for at least three weeks each with hamstring injuries sustained against the midlanders.

Rafael Benítez’s problems have also not been helped by Daniel Agger suffering a slight recurrence of his back problem. And, with Fernando Torres under a three-week intensive treatment programme on his groin injury, the chances of all four being available for Liverpool’s next match, at home to Manchester City, are remote.

There seems no end to Liverpool’s nightmare, with the Reds now trailing leaders Chelsea by 11 points, but Johnson believes he can see green shoots of a revival.

The England full-back said: “The record sounds awful and it is awful for a club like Liverpool. But things like this happen in football. You stick together and keep fighting.

“We have seen in the league that everyone can beat everyone; if someone had told you at the start of the season that we’d win one in nine, you’d have laughed your head off. We will just look to get as many points as we can as quickly as possible then have a look at the end of the season and see where we are.”

Johnson’s runs down the right are a real plus for Liverpool as they struggle to get their season back on track, the full-back having returned from calf and groin problems that kept him out of the defeat at Fulham and the Champions League draw in Lyon.

He said: “Unfortunately we have picked up a couple more injuries but the sooner we get the lads back together the better it will be for everyone. I am one of the worst when it comes to being injured. I can barely watch when that happens and all you want to do is help out.

“You just have to listen to your body. I have had a problem with my groin and torn my calf. It has been very frustrating but now I am looking to get going properly.”

On the draw with Birmingham, Johnson said: “We want to be winning these games and I felt we did more than enough to take three points but it just wasn’t meant to be. You could say we could have dealt with the first goal better but [Cameron] Jerome has hit the strike of his life for their second goal.

“We had chances, we dominated the game and you can see everyone was working for the cause. It’s just one of those times for us at the minute and we just need to keep working. As long as we keep showing the togetherness and passion that we did here, then I am sure we will come through with a smile on our face.”

Lucas Leiva also believes Liverpool’s performance against Birmingham was an improvement.

The Brazilian midfielder said: “We are asking ourselves why we aren’t winning matches but sometimes you don’t have the answer. We created lots of chances; we had all the possession and did almost everything you need to win a football match.

“We played with intensity and quality throughout the 90 minutes. We tried our best but the third goal just wouldn’t go in. All we can do is train hard, keep going and try and change the situation as soon as possible.

“We must stay positive. Maybe the international break will be good for us because we will get some players back from injury.”

LiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

• ‘Maybe it was not a penalty,’ says Benítez of dive
• ‘I was nowhere near him. It’s a joke,’ says Carsley

The Liverpool striker David Ngog was accused of indulging in “an embarrassing case of cheating” last night as a controversial penalty salvaged a draw against Birmingham City but left Rafael Benítez’s team seventh in the Premier League and 11 points behind leaders, Chelsea.

Liverpool were dominant but trailing 2-1 with 20 minutes remaining when the former Paris St Germain forward dived over a challenge from Lee Carsley and the referee, Peter Walton, pointed to the spot. Steven Gerrard, making his first appearance in five matches following an adductor problem, duly converted but Ngog’s theatrics prompted a furious response from Birmingham and Benítez admitted the award was dubious having spoken to the 20-year-old in the dressing room.

“I was absolutely nowhere near him. It’s a joke,” said Carsley, the former Everton midfielder. “I know I didn’t touch him and I said to the referee to book me or send me off. That would have made me feel better. I’m sure he has got a family but, if I went home having done that, I’d be embarrassed. You are supposed to be teaching your kids an example and this is just an embarrassing case of cheating. But the lad has taken a chance and got his team a point, so I’m sure they’ll be patting him on the back.”

Ngog, in for the injured Fernando Torres, had given Liverpool a merited lead until Christian Benítez’s and Cameron Jerome’s first league goals of the season transformed the contest. The home side put Joe Hart’s goal under relentless pressure in the second half but beat the Birmingham goalkeeper thanks only to the game’s incendiary incident.

“He is a top referee,” said Alex McLeish, the City manager, “but he didn’t get that one right and I’m sure when he looks at it again he’ll see that Ngog dived. It was a terrific dive. Sometimes there is a debate over a penalty when there is contact but there was none here. It was not even close to being a penalty.”

Liverpool have now won only once in nine matches and their injury problems continued last night with both Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun suffering hamstring injuries. The international break gives Liverpool respite on the injury front, with Torres to receive intensive treatment on a hernia over the next fortnight, but the result brought fresh frustration for Benítez.

“We have to be disappointed with a draw at home,” said the Liverpool manager. “The performance of the team was pretty good for me. We had plenty of possession, a lot of attempts and showed character until the end. Everyone in the stadium thought we would get a third goal but we just couldn’t do it.

“It was a pity to score with a penalty that maybe wasn’t a penalty. It is not fair sometimes but we have had a lot of things go against us this season and we deserved more from this game. It turned out to be positive for us. We attacked and attacked and we deserved to win but maybe it wasn’t a penalty.”

Benítez revealed he had questioned Ngog on the legitimacy of the penalty award. “I asked him about the penalty and he said maybe it wasn’t. I haven’t seen a replay but I spoke to him about it,” he said. The Liverpool manager also suspected Benayoun and Riera had torn their hamstrings, although a full diagnosis will be made today. He added: “Riera has the same problem and so does Yossi now. Also [Daniel] Agger felt something in his back. It is not serious but he felt it again.”

“Fernando had no confidence and so we started his treatment yesterday. We are not talking about an operation. He has to work with the physios and we will treat him properly. He will spend two or three weeks working with the physios and we will see how he reacts every day.”

Premier LeagueLiverpoolBirmingham CityAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

This was about as woeful a night as Liverpool could experience without losing. Despite scoring the opener they were 2-1 down and even the equaliser shamed them since David Ngog, who had put his team ahead, appeared to dive as Lee Carsley slid into a challenge. The substitute Steven Gerrard converted the penalty in the 71st minute but his side has now taken a single victory from its last nine fixtures.

In theory it was a night to be relished by Liverpool. The line-up was far closer to full strength and the opposition were among the weaker visitors to Anfield. The opener from Ngog felt overdue even though it needed just 13 minutes for it to be notched. By then, the young Frenchman had already seen one attempt saved.

Liverpool seemed to be gliding effortlessly past the left flank of the opposition. Glen Johnson and Dirk Kuyt cause havoc in the initial phase of the game and Joe Hart had already denied Ngog once before the opener. He was not to be denied.

Johnson explored that promising avenue on the right and the Birmingham goalkeeper made fine saves from the eventual scorer and Kuyt before Albert Riera set up Ngog for an unanswerable finish. These, nonetheless, are unsettling days for Liverpool and overwhelming superiority did not prevent an equaliser.

McFadden’s deep free-kick from the right was headed by Roger Johnson and Scott Dann before Christian Benítez, a £7.7m signing from Mexican club Santos Laguna in the summer, recorded his first goal for the club. Life had begun to go wrong for Liverpool again and Gerrard’s return to action had its origins in ill-fortune.

The captain, who has been absent with a groin strain, came on in the 45th minute because of recurrence of Riera’s hamstring problems. There was nothing whatsoever wrong with Cameron Jerome’s muscles as he held off Javier Mascheranio and lashed a dipping 30-yarder over Pepe Reina to re-establish the lead. Liverpool probably have too much pride ever to concede that Birmingham could be their bogey club. All the same, Benítez had not beaten them in the League over six attempts since he was appointed manager. That run had begun with a 1-0 win for the visitors at Anfield in November 2004. History, of course, is not obliged to repeat itself and Benítez would have looked forward to this encounter after winning just one of his previous eight fixtures in all competitions. It was, in principle, a better line-up than he had sent out for while. By the interval, it was still as crestfallen as its predecessors.

Benítez had his men back out on the field well in advance of the due start to the second half. This was presumably to imply that his line-up was in no mood to waste time as they set matters to right. Birmingham continued to show the composure with which a pair of goals can endow visitors to even this stadium.

The initial reaction from Liverpool amounted to no more than long-range efforts by Lucas and Yossi Benayoun. Hart had no difficulty in dealing with first attempt and the other went wide. This was not trademark onslaught expected of the home team on this pitch at a moment of jeopardy. Gerrard could not ensure instant impetus. He is, after all, a relative convalescent whom Fabio Capello has excused the trip to Doha for Saturday’s England friendly with Brazil. With the club captain subdued, Anfield was muffled.

Birmingham were calm, as if realising that all the anxiety was the property of Liverpool. Gerrard could not take advantage when Johnson found him with a cross and the midfielder headed against the post. The incident did at least lift the tempo of the team and the volume of the crowd. At last there was a passage of play that had echoes of the start to the night. Johnson once more broke dangerously on the right and the visitors looked apprehensive again. The equaliser arrived in dubious fashion. Carsley’s trailing leg made no apparent contact as Ngog skipped past him on the bye-line but the referee Peter Walton awarded a penalty that Gerrard converted in the 69th minute.Ngog and Carsle had both been cautioned for arguing over the incident. The Fenchman did seem to have dived and so lifted Liverpool’s hopes.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolBirmingham CityKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk