FOLLOWING his move back to Tottenham Robbie Keane has declared he’s not interested in being awarded a championship medal if Liverpool win the title this season.

However, if Rafael Benitez does finally break the club’s 19-year Premier League duck this season then another couple of former Anfield stars Peter Crouch and David James deserve some kind of reward after this showing.

With Liverpool trailing twice against a Portsmouth side who have been free-fall since the beleaguered Tony Adams replaced Harry Redknapp as manager and have now failed to record a victory in eight games, Liverpool fought back to secure a last-gasp win largely down to some glaring individual errors from the England international pair who used to be heroes of the Kop.

Wednesday’s late elimination to neighbours Everton in extra-time of the FA Cup fourth round replay took much out of Liverpool’s players both physically and mentally and subsequently following some consultation with the club’s medical staff, Benitez, without injured skipper Steven Gerrard, named a starting line-up without any of his forward six players in midfield and attack that started at Goodison Park.

Fortune has often favoured the brave in Premier League title chases and with Liverpool going into this game trailing Manchester United despite suffering only one league defeat this season to date, Benitez has often been criticised for not being adventurous enough.

But his latest team selection, choosing untried French teenager David Ngog to lead the line on his first Premier League start was certainly a bold one if not also a massive gamble as the Spaniard shuffled his pack.

Fortunately for Benitez, on this occasion the deck also contained Crouch and James to play the role of the two jokers – only Adams and the Pompey faithful were certainly not laughing.

With the aforementioned Gerrard out, Lucas suspended and Fernando Torres, Albert Riera, Xabi Alonso plus Dirk Kuyt all on the bench, Benitez adopted a three centre-back formation of Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger with Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena operating as wing-backs.

The biggest surprise though was left-back Fabio Aurelio’s switch to central midfield but the Brazilian, who had previously filled that berth for Benitez’s former club Valencia, repaid his manager with an all-action display and well-struck goal.

After defeat in their shortest trip of the season three nights earlier, the Liverpool fans who had made their longest journey of the Premier League campaign were expecting a big response at Fratton Park after travelling down to Hampshire’s south coast in heavy snow but they had little to warm them for more than an hour.

Liverpool took the game to Portsmouth in the early exchanges but couldn’t find anyway through the home side’s rearguard.

Yossi Benayoun stabbed a shot wide of James’s left-hand post after Arbeloa had received the ball on the right flank following a superb cross-field pass by Agger while Aurelio clipped the outside of the England keeper’s right-hand upright from a 25-yard free-kick.

James also turned a Javier Mascherano shot around his left-hand post while at the other end, Portsmouth’s best opportunity of the first half came when Crouch blazed over the bar – with the move being teed-up via a deflection from South Yorkshire official Howard Webb, who, following his recent assist for Wolves against Birmingham in the Championship, seems to be developing a worrying penchant for hitting the ball for the nation’s number one referee.

But if that was odd, there was far more to come after the break – and to think Benitez dubbed the second half between Wigan and Liverpool at the JJB Stadium as ‘crazy’.

Shortly before Portsmouth took the lead, the visitors should have gone ahead themselves but Babel skewed a seemingly simple tap-in wide at the back post when he should have buried a low right-wing cross by Benayoun.

For a player who netted the winning goal against Manchester United earlier this season, the Dutchman has been enduring a lean time of late and even before his shocking miss, one Liverpool supporter who follows all the games when asked what Babel’s best position was, replied: “At Ajax.”

As so often happens, within minutes of such a sitter going begging at the other end, Portsmouth drew first blood through lifelong Evertonian David Nugent.

With 62 minutes on the clock, the former Preston striker was played through by Crouch who dissected a bass between Carragher and Skrtel enabling Nugent to slip the ball under Pepe Reina’s body.

Seven minutes later, Liverpool’s chance for an equaliser came in farcical fashion as, closed down by Skrtel Crouch dispatched a sloppy ball towards James and under pressure from advancing substitute Kuyt – who had replaced the ineffectual Ngog – the custodian caught the ball which was penalised for being backpass.

Liverpool were subsequently awarded a free-kick approximately 12 yards out but three yards to the right of the penalty spot.

Such situations flatter to deceive often than not with 11 opposition players between the taker and the goal. On this occasion Aurelio produced the goods when the ball was touched to him by Alonso, who had also been introd-uced from the bench, and the Brazilian blasted through a thunderous shot into the corner of the net – through the legs of Crouch and beating Niko Kranjcar on the goal-line.

Despite conceding in such farcical fashion, Portsmouth recovered to retake the lead on 78 minutes as Hermann Hreidarsson got to a Nadir Belhadj free-kick from the right before Carragher and headed past Reina.

After starting the week with a win over Chelsea and having lost only two games all season, Liverpool looked to be heading for a second defeat in the space of four days. But if Liverpool’s supporters were fearing the worst, they hadn’t bargained on another couple of howlers from their ex-number one James.

The game marked James’s 535th Premier League appearance – equalling the record held by Gary Speed – and at 39 he still possesses all the natural physical gifts to be England’s preferred choice but he displayed the mental demons that still creep up to mar his game from time to time by allowing a Kuyt shot on 85 minutes to beat him at his near post from a tight angle after he had been fed by Torres.

There was still time for comeback kings Liverpool to provide a sting in the table though as with 92 of the 93 minutes up, Mascherano threaded a pass through to Benayoun who found the head of Torres in the six-yard box and the Spaniard powerfully nodded past James to steal all three points.

Gambling man Benitez had shown himself to be something of a maverick but his calculated risk had come off – thanks to the two aces of Kuyt and Torres who he had kept hidden up his sleeve.