Fernando Torres in line for return against Barnsley in FA Cup

Feb 11 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ has urged Liverpool to build on their performance at Stamford Bridge yesterday – as he revealed Fernando Torres could return for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Barnsley.

The Spaniard’s side were the better team for long periods as they fought out a gritty goalless draw against championship-chasing Chelsea.

Peter Crouch came closest with a clutch of chances during a first half in which Liverpool created the more clear opportunities.

Despite the draw – a first point at a ‘big four’ rival since Benitez assumed charge in June 2004 – the Anfield outfit lost ground in the race for the final Champions League qualification berth and now stand three points behind fourth-placed neighbours Everton, albeit with a game in hand.

But Benitez reckons Liverpool did enough yesterday to merit all three points, and believes his players can take encouragement from their display.

“We could argue that we deserved to win,” said the Anfield manager. “To come here and get a point is not easy and usually a good situation, but after the game we were disappointed.

“We had some chances in the first half and in the second half we defended well and had some half-chances. Maybe it could have been three points for us, but it’s never easy against a top team.

“The whole team showed character and the commitment of every player was very positive.

“There were two good teams out there trying to win, and it’s never easy to win in those games.

“Overall I would say to get a point here is not bad but when you have chances like we did to win here today you must be disappointed.

“The plan as always was to win the game and we didn’t play for a draw. We were attacking and did almost everything that’s needed for winning.

“We can’t change anything in the table by doing anything other than working hard like we did today.

“If we can play like we did today against some other teams than maybe we can win more games.”

Liverpool could be buoyed by the earlier-than-expected return of Torres, who had been expected to be sidelined for at least 10 days with a hamstring problem.

“Maybe Torres can be available for the weekend,” said Benitez. “We have the physios working really hard with him and he is very optimistic.”

With an injured Sami Hyypia joining Alvaro Arbeloa, Fabio Aurelio and Daniel Agger on the sidelines, Benitez’s defensive resources were so stretched that 18 year-old centre-back Mikel San Jose, who was signed from Athletic Bilbao last August, was elevated from the reserves to the substitutes’ bench.

The youngster remained on the bench, however, as Liverpool gained their second successive clean sheet.

“In the second half it was more difficult for us to control the game as Chelsea were pushing for the goal, but we still managed to defend well,” said Benitez.

“We had some one-on-one situations towards the end but we couldn’t get past that last defender to make the chance.

“We were playing a very good team who, from the goalkeeper all the way through to the striker, have good players so I thought our performance was very positive.”

Benitez also praised the performance of Martin Skrtel, who was impressive at centre-back alongside Jamie Carragher.

“Martin did well,” added the manager. “His fitness was good and I think he will get even better because he is learning English, and tactically he will also improve the understanding with his team-mates.”

Meanwhile the Liverpool manager has denied blaming the American owners for the club’s problems this season.

He dismissed a report in the News of the World, saying: “It’s no surprise. Everybody in Liverpool knows there that are two newspapers that you cannot trust, this is one of them.”