The hosts went into the match at Villa Park desperate for three points after a run of five Barclays Premier League games without a win, but they struggled, particularly in the first half, and needed an 89th-minute goal from James Collins to secure victory.

Houllier felt his players let the nerves get to them after draws against Fulham, Birmingham and Chelsea and defeats by Tottenham and Sunderland.

The Frenchman said: "The players have got to focus on the game and forget about the scoreboard. The players are responsible for the game and maybe (they underperformed) because we knew we were in need of points, never mind playing well.

"The only positive thing about this game is twice they equalised and we managed to keep our head up and go for the winner.

"We dropped 10 points. If you lose half of that, you're more comfortable, you're more relaxed. The first half we were too nervous, too tense."

While the main talking point after the game was Blackpool boss Ian Holloway's decision to make 10 changes to his side, Houllier's options continued to decrease.

John Carew, Emile Heskey, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker and Stiliyan Petrov are all out, and Houllier revealed yesterday defender Carlos Cuellar will miss their match against Manchester United on Saturday with a calf problem while Habib Beye twisted his ankle in the warm-up.

There was some good news for the Frenchman, though, with the return of Gabriel Agbonlahor after five weeks out following groin surgery, while teenager Nathan Delfouneso impressed and netted his first goal of the season to put Villa 2-1 up.

Houllier continued: "That's a good thing for us. We have played without Carew, without Heskey and a number of injuries in midfield. We have horrendous injuries. But we cope."

Despite their numerous changes, Blackpool attacked Villa from the off and, after Marlon Harewood had cancelled out Stewart Downing's opener, DJ Campbell looked to have earned his side a point with their second equaliser three minutes from time only for Collins to add another twist.

Houllier was full of praise for Holloway's commitment to attacking football, saying: "I congratulate him. He's got a philosophy which is positive going forward. It's not long balls, they try to build.

"He deserves some great credit for what he's doing. If the game is exciting and spectacular, it's not only our game. Every time I see Blackpool's games on TV or DVD, they throw everything at you offensively. I hope they stay up."

Holloway was thrilled with the display of his players, many of whom joined Blackpool at the end of the summer transfer window.

The Tangerines boss, though, admitted he must look at his training methods after four of his side went down with cramp.

He said: "The training has to be geared like other people and I'm going to ask these people who've been doing it for years how to run a Premier League side because my training obviously isn't good enough for the ones that aren't playing.

"I've got four of them with cramp and it was almost an embarrassment. I've got to look at my training schedule and make sure I focus with my staff and make sure I get that absolutely spot on.

"If that costs more money and people then fantastic because I'm letting these boys down if I don't get them a bit fitter to play at this level. But football wise, there wasn't one of them that didn't deserve to be on that pitch."