As the old adage goes - it's a case of concentrating on the league at Maine Road.

We had hoped for a good run in the FA Cup but we didn't play to our best and went down 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday.

I was on the bench as I had anticipated I would be. We had won two and drawn one of our last three games and I didn't expect the manager to change the team around too much.

In the first half I thought Liverpool put together one of their better performances this season, but it might also have been down to us not playing as well as we can.

They certainly passed the ball well and I thought Steven Gerrard, who has been criticised for his performances by manager Gerard Houllier recently, had one of his better games.

He seemed to be involved in all the build-ups and you could see the confidence oozing from him.

We were never able to stop him from getting the ball and as a result he controlled the game.

Everything went through him, either directly or indirectly. He received short passes from his defenders, primarily Jamie Carragher, and then with his ability would hit 50-yard balls upfield and put someone through on goal.

The goal didn't come via Gerrard, however, the referee giving a penalty two minutes into the second half for a handball by Marc-Vivien Foe that many people thought was harsh.

Still a goal down with 20 minutes to play, I was sent on with a simple instruction from the boss: Go on and get a goal!

The manager was looking for anything that could give the side a lift as we hadn't really tested the goalkeeper.

With four minutes remaining I got a chance to level the score.

Eyal Berkovic sent over an excellent cross and at first I thought I would have a free header.

But as I went up for the ball a defender rose with me and we clashed heads - it's still sore today as a matter of fact.

As I headed the ball he headed me and it's gone over the bar.

I don't remember much more about the opportunity, the last thing I recall is getting to my feet and the referee signalling a goal kick.

There's a little bit of swelling on my temple as a result but it won't stop me from playing.

I was hoping to be involved in our reserve game with Sheffield Wednesday tonight but the manager sent down a list of those playing and my name wasn't among them.

Darren Huckerby is in the team and so is Jon Macken, who is just returning from injury. I think the manager wants Jon to play for 45 minutes to see if he has fully recovered and it would not make sense to have Darren and me involved as well, especially as Nicolas picked up a little knock. If one or both of us was to get injured then it would potentially give us a problem for Saturday's game against Leeds United.

I have a feeling I might be back in the line-up for the match against our relatively local rivals.

It's always a good atmosphere when we play Leeds, who are just 40 minutes down the motorway and it's the kind of game you want to play in.

Obviously, I cannot say what the manager is going to do, especially when we are four days away from the game, but I think, having left me out of the last few matches, he might put me back in.

Recently he has played Shaun Wright-Phillips and it all depends on what his thinking was coming out of the Liverpool game.

If he thought the team in general was poor then he might give Shaun the benefit of the doubt. Alternatively he may decide to renew my partnership with Nicolas.

I want to get on because it's a big game and hopefully it will signal another run in the starting line-up for what is a very important part of the season for us.