RAFAEL BENITEZ hailed Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the Far East as the perfect preparation for the new Premier League season.

The squad boarded a flight home last night after a crushing 5-0 victory over Singapore in front of 50,000 fans at the National Stadium.

Krisztian Nemeth netted twice and there were also goals for Andriy Voronin, Albert Riera and Fernando Torres as they secured their first pre-season triumph.

It was the second stop of their trip following last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in Thailand.

The Liverpool manager said: “When you go to Asia sometimes you think it will be tough with all the travelling but it’s been really good and the fans have been fantastic. The atmospheres have been great and everyone has wanted to help us.

“When you see the faces of the fans you know that it was good to come here. The fans were like in Anfield, amazing.

“We’ve been here for a week and today you could see that the team was stronger and fitter.

“It was a good game, especially in the second half when we had more space and there were a bit tired. We could go forward and create more chances.

“We worked hard and played at a high tempo with a professional mentality.

“We won and scored a lot of goals so I think that will make the next game easier.

“You can see that some of them are a little bit tired, but the mentality and attitude was good.

“If we can play these kind of games with this intensity, it will be really good to improve the condition of the players. We need to be a little bit sharper but I feel it’s just a question of time.”