Benitez, though, has no intention of changing his approach.

“We will try to manage the squad for the match and use some different players,” he says.

“But we want to win and get to the final. In my first season we got to the Carling Cup final and were winning with 10 minutes to go before we conceded an own goal. I would like to go to the final again and make amends for that defeat.

“We still have some players who’ve been injured and are improving their fitness but with some players you can see on the pitch they are much better and sharper.

“Nabil El Zhar is now training, and Daniel Agger is training normally. So, it’s only Alberto Aquilani that’s not training with the team.

“We have more big names on the bench now. But still there’s room for improvement and hopefully we’ll see the best in the next few games.”

One of those big names to make an impression from the bench at the weekend was Ryan Babel.

The Dutchman emerged during the second half and produced the cross from which Fernando Torres scored the decisive goal in a 3-2 win at West Ham United.

Babel had recently accused Benitez of “breaking promises” concerning regular first-team involvement and suggested he would be open to a loan move back to former club Ajax in January.

But the 22-year-old has now distanced himself from those remarks and vowed to fight for his place in the starting line-up.

“I didn’t say any of those things,” says Babel. “I did an interview in Holland and I don’t know who in England got hold of it but it was the worst translation I have ever seen.

“The fact is I’m very happy here and I don’t want to leave to go anywhere.

“Yes, there is a lot of competition for places at Liverpool but that’s the same at every top club.

“When I got back to Liverpool I went straight to the manager and told him it wasn’t true. He accepted that and there is no problem. Now I just want to concentrate on playing.”