RAFAEL BENITEZ insists  he isn’t worried what  Liverpool’s American  owners will think of his  decision to leave £20m  striker Robbie Keane on  the bench in Saturday’s 2-2  draw with Hull City on  Saturday.

And the manager hinted  that he expects George  Gillett and Tom Hicks  to  sanction further big-money  spending next summer.

The Spanish  manager  came under fire following  Liverpool’s third consecutive  home stalemate, which saw  his side  narrowly maintain  their advantage at the top of  the Premier League,  after  Keane  failed to feature.

Benitez has previously  clashed with Gillett and  Hicks, who are believed to be  struggling to refinance loans  they used to purchase the  club,  over transfer budgets.

And the American  pair are  unlikely to be impressed  that   such a major transfer  investment is being so  scantly used. However,  Benitez brushed aside any  concerns and suggested he  expects more £20m players to  arrive next year.

“I don’t think about this,  only about the team,” he  said.” “I think that next year  they will be really worried  about different  players worth  £20m on the bench every  single week.”

Benitez defended his  tactics as Hull held Liverpool  to a third consecutive  Premier League home draw  on Saturday.

With Liverpool chasing a  first Anfield league victory  since early November after   Steven Gerrard’s brace  cancelled out Paul  McShane’s opener and Jamie  Carragher own goal, Benitez  threw on Ryan Babel, Nabil  El Zhar and Lucas.

It was Benitez’s final   replacement, which confined  Keane to the role of unused  substitute, that was greeted  with greatest dissatisfaction,  with sections of the  Anfield  crowd booing the decision.

But the Anfield chief, who  admitted his disappointed at  the result,  stood by his  decision to call on Lucas  instead of Keane.

He said: “We wanted to keep  (Xabi) Alonso in the middle  trying to control midfield,   because Javier  (Mascherano) was  going too hard and Lucas is a  player that can get into the box  really well. He has the quality to  deliver a final pass.

“I wanted more quality in the  middle. Mascherano is a  defensive midfielder, Lucas is  more offensive. He can pass the  ball and he is more precise.