RAFAEL BENITEZ believes last night’s 2-1 victory over Wigan at Anfield will help restore his players’ confidence.

Goals from David Ngog and Fernando Torres lifted Liverpool up to sixth in the Premier League and they are now five points adrift of fourth placed Aston Villa.

Benitez has urged his side to build on the club’s first home win since late October when they travel to struggling Portsmouth on Saturday.

“It was very important to win tonight, and there were a lot of positives,” he said.

“We knew we had to win and it doesn't matter that we could have scored more – at the end of the day it's three points.

"We got the victory, now we can relax a bit and be ready for the next one.

"The main thing for us now is winning a few in the row.

“We have to start with the next one, Portsmouth, and then we can talk of winning three.”

Benitez was delighted with the efforts of his two strikers with Ngog opening the scoring in the first half before Torres came off the bench to settle the contest late on.

Torres was making his 100th appearance for Liverpool and his close range finish took his goal tally to an impressive 61.

"It’s a fantastic achievement by Torres,” Benitez said.

“He was really tired after the last game, but I wanted to put him on at the end.

"Torres was not training for a month, and I wanted to protect him and if necessary not play him. But I think he will be ready for Portsmouth.

“As for Ngog he is improving and did really well too. He's a good option for us now if Torres can't play.”

Javier Mascherano was crucial to Liverpool’s triumph with a tireless performance in the centre of midfield.

Benitez said: “Javier is doing well, working really hard. He's the Javier we knew we had and he's doing better now, although he can still improve.

“He's an inspiration for the other players. Everyone knows he is a key player for us.”