RAFAEL BENITEZ believes Alberto Aquilani has accepted he could be restricted to a bit-part role as Liverpool aim to end a difficult season with a flourish.

Aquilani has endured a testing campaign since arriving from Roma in a near-£20million deal last August.

Having seen his first-team bow delayed until late October by an ankle injury, the Italian midfielder has made just four Premier League starts and played only three minutes in the top flight since the 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on January 30.

Aquilani is likely to once again find himself among the substitutes for tonight’s visit to struggling Wigan Athletic, where victory would send Liverpool back into the fourth and final Champions League place.

And with the Anfield outfit also in the last 16 of the Europa League, Benitez admits telling Aquilani the team must come first during the run-in to the end of the season.

“When you have been injured for a while it’s not easy for a player,” said the Liverpool manager. “Then, when you are available and the team isn’t doing well, it makes it even more difficult.

“You have to decide if you can afford to give him two or three games when you know he’s maybe not at the level he could be, so you could end up losing some of them.

“Alberto isn’t stupid, he knows the priority now has to be the team and what’s best for that. All he can do is keep training and make sure he is ready when we need him.

“But as I said, the most important thing we have to think of is the team, not one player.”

Benitez added: “We have had a conversation about things and he knows the situation. Alberto is a very good professional, who was a big name in Italy and wants to show his quality here. When you’re like that, but cannot play for three or four months and then you’re available but can’t play because the team is maybe doing really well or has problems, it’s a difficult situation for any professional.”

Aquilani made one of his rare starts in the 2-1 Premier League win over Wigan in December.