'WE'VE WON NOTHING YET' -LITMANEN

The Finnish international knows from bitter experience what it is like to come so close to major honours and then end the season winning nothing.

The former Barcelona star, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Tuesday, says that his old side were in a similar position but there were no trophies at Camp Nou at the end of the season.

"We were going for three trophies at Barcelona last season but fell short in all of them," said Litmanen.

"We were semi-finalists in the Champions League and Spanish Cup and runners-up in the league.

"It was incredible because we played no fewer than 16 ties in the Champions League alone. I can remember that 13 of them were really big ones against top teams yet it still counted for nothing.

"It is clearly a lesson for us all that we can't afford to get too carried away with what we have done up to now."

The excitement is mounting at Anfield as Liverpool continue their quest for three major honours. They face Birmingham in the Worthington Cup final on Sunday, and have progressed into the FA Cup quarter finals.

Gerard Houllier's men will be even more confident if they also manage to see-off Roma at Anfield on Thursday, following a hard-fought 2-0 win in Italy.

Litmanen has been part of Houllier's rotation system, but knows from his experiences in Europe that a big squad is needed to challenge for silverware on several fronts.

"You always have to fight for your place at a top club and the fact that there is so much competition shows how far Liverpool are progressing," said Litmanen.

"We can only get there by having a squad that is large enough and good enough to sustain a challenge on all fronts.

"I know one thing, I would rather be chasing honours as part of a large squad than be playing every week in a team that wins nothing."