 RICK PARRY has moved to assure fans that Liverpool can still challenge for a top-three placing despite their final-day frustration in the transfer market. More evidence emerged yesterday of players the Anfield club strived but eventually failed to sign before the Wednesday deadline. Rafael Benitez had returned to his former club Valencia in an attempt to lure defender David Navarro on a season-long loan, but director of football Javier Subirats insisted the player was "needed" at the Mestalla. Sao Paulo also claim they rejected an offer from Liverpool for their Uruguay international defender Diego Lugano. The news compounded a miserable end to Benitez's search for a centre-back and right-winger, which culminated with the fruitless £10million bid for Benfica's Simao Sabrosa. Chief executive Parry, though, insists supporters should not be too down-hearted about the club's transfer woe. He said: "We don't believe it should be all doom and gloom. There isn't a club which hasn't suffered disappointments in the transfer market, so we're no different. "The big danger, particularly when you're approaching the deadline, is you get desperate and do the wrong deal. You have to hold your nerve and we decided not to pursue certain targets in the end yesterday. We have a lot of faith in the players we have. "We have brought in most of the players we wanted. Let's not forget we've spent £20m to bring in Pepe Reina, Momo Sissoko, Peter Crouch and Bolo Zenden. They are four top players. "We have spent the same amount we spent in 2002 when we bought just three players, so lack of money has not been an issue here. We also had a deal for Simao which would have taken us well beyond what we'd spent then. "We've enjoyed a pretty good summer in the transfer market. There's been a substantial outlay." | 
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