Smicer has no mates to fall back on

Influential centre-back Scott added: 'Smicer was a disgrace, and we had a few things to say to him at the time.

'I don't know whether he under-stood them all, but he got the drift. I think he got the drift from the way his own team-mates reacted. Some were actually laughing at him, while it was noticeable that they were not there to back him up when it all went off. They kept away, and that said everything. He made a fool of himself, and anyone up in the stand could see he was a joke.'

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier did his best to defend Smicer, insisting he was 'not a faker', but was clearly perturbed at the way his team struggled, for the second home match in succession, to make any headway against inferior opposition.

Scott's goal-line clearance from Michael Owen in the fifth minute hinted at the frustration in store for Liverpool, and the defender sent a shudder through the Kop when his header clipped the bar in the 32nd minute.

There was further alarm when the hapless Halsey deemed an innocuous trip on Paul Hurst to

be a second bookable offence for the desperately unlucky Igor Biscan in the 62nd minute.

Already leading through Emile Heskey's diving header in the 47th minute, 10-man Liverpool survived what could have been an uncomfortable last half-hour, thanks chiefly to the growing authority of Danny Murphy.

When a mazy run into the area was halted by a last-ditch tackle, Murphy still had the presence of mind to stick out a boot and prod the loose ball into the path of Dietmar Hamann for a second goal in the 73rd minute.

The in-form midfielder set up Heskey two minutes later for a typically-crisp finish that gave the England striker his 18th goal of the season in all competitions and left disgruntled Rotherham bemoaning their margin of defeat as well as Smicer's antics.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has said Robbie Fowler, who was rested on Saturday after being thumped in a nightclub, will have to get used to the club's rotation system - just like their other three strikers.

Parry echoed Houllier's message that the arrival of Jari Litmanen from Barcelona does not mean Fowler will be sold.

'It's not a case of being substitute. I hate the phrase, but it's more a case of will they adapt to the rotation system? And it's not just Robbie, it's an issue for all four,' he said.