WHO would be an England manager? Sven Goran Eriksson arrived at Anfield last night aiming to make one last reassuring check on the men who will and won't be going with England to the World Cup finals this summer.

But by the time he vacated his seat in the directors box, his head must have been spinning with more questions than answers after Liverpool and Rovers had contested a gripping advert for Premiership football which contained just about every thrill and spill imaginable.

Of the England hopefuls, Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy in the red corner pressed their claims for joining team-mates Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard on the plane bound for Japan and Korea.

But all eyes were ultimately on the blue corner where Matt Jansen strained every possible sinew in a last ditch bid to gate-crash England's World Cup party after he was so cruelly robbed of an international debut on this same ground three weeks ago.

The pressure was unbearable as Jansen bust a gut for 79 breathless minutes in a desperate search for the goal which could tip the balance in his favour.

Then, just as Eriksson got the nod from an Anfield steward that his car was ready and waiting with its engine running outside the main entrance, the 24-year-old striker's big moment arrived and he didn't fluff his lines.

Keith Gillespie's cross dissected two defenders and fell perfectly for Jansen to gleefully tuck it away for his 16th goal of a hugely impressive campaign.

From then on, all he could do was pray.

But whether he finally gets the nod this morning or not, at least he gave Eriksson something to think about as he settled down to his cocoa last night.

"I thought Matt did very well," said Blackburn boss Graeme Souness.

"He worked his socks off against two very good centre backs who are renowned for being quite mean, but you're asking the wrong person about whether or not he's got a chance.

"All I can say is he will play in a World Cup one day, whether it's this one or the next one."

Souness couldn't hide his disappointment, however, at seeing another precious Premiership point slip through his fingers at the end of a thoroughly absorbing evening.

Three times Liverpool surged in front courtesy of goals from Murphy, the irrestible Nikolas Anelka and Sami Hyypia only for Rovers to bounce back each time.

But just as Eriksson disappeared to meet his lift, Anfield erupted as Emile Heskey broke the hearts of the visiting fans with a venomous strike which exploded past Alan Kelly to seal a 4-3 victory.

"We feel we should have got something from the game," reflected Souness.

"To come to Anfield and score three goals and then come away with nothing leaves you feeling hard done to.

"But I think that 90 minutes summed up our season in many respects because we played some very good football, scored some very good goals but conceded some awful ones.

"So we feel a bit sorry for ourselves but we've got some very good young players who in theory should be better for the whole experience.

"Going forward, we are good -- you don't need me to tell you that, just look at our goal difference which is the best outside the top six.

"However, we've got to learn to stop conceding so many sloppy goals.

"It was the fourth one which really killed us here. Proper defending in the last 10 minutes would have got us something out of that game."

Safe in the knowledge that Premiership safety had already been secured, Rovers played with great confidence and flair going forward as David Dunn and Tugay stroked the ball about nonchalantly in an entertaining contest.

But some of the defensive failings which have been their Achilles heel this season returned to haunt them as Anelka in particular caused all sorts of problems up front.

The tone was set in the 16th minute when Owen rose unchallenged to meet a wicked centre from Heskey but he failed to beat Kelly with a free header.

But the reprieve lasted just seven minutes before Murphy benefited from a lucky ricochet off Tugay before scrambling home the opener at the near post.

Unperturbed, Rovers fought back and carved out an equaliser of stunning quality in the 28th minute.

Damien Duff played one-twos with both Henning Berg and Craig Short in the box before sliding a brilliant finish inside Jerzy Dudek's near post.

Short and Berg were left powerless six minutes before the break, though, when the awesome Anelka accelerated past a posse of defenders and steered a low drive beyond Kelly to restore the Reds advantage.

However, Rovers were far from finished and Andy Cole restored parity again four minutes into the second half when he rose to head home Lucas Neill's cross.

That seemed to draw Liverpool's sting and they went ahead for a third time three minutes later when Hyypia flicked home Murphy's pin-point free-kick with a copybook header.

Souness decided to throw caution to the wind by introducing Gillespie on the right and it turned out to be an inspired switch as the Northern Ireland international played a big part in the third equaliser.

Cole's ball out to the right found the pacey wing-man in space and his low centre was gratefully gobbled up by Jansen at the far post with 10 minutes remaining.

However, there was one last twist in a gripping plot.

With the clock showing 86 minutes, Heskey brilliantly rolled a defender before steadying his aim and thundering a low drive past Kelly into the far corner -- an explosive finish to an explosive contest.

LIVERPOOL 4

Murphy 23, Anelka 39, Hyypia 52, Heskey 86

ROVERS 3

Duff 28, Cole 49, Jansen 80