Rafa criticised over Torres substitution at Fulham

A defiant Rafa Benitez claimed yesterday that his Liverpool side had the requisite character to pull off what would be a shock result against Lyon on Wednesday in the Champions League. But after their dismal defeat at Fulham on Saturday afternoon, and with an increasingly dire injury situation at the club, the Spaniard will need a miracle to take all three points at the Stade Gerland.

"We have to approach every game thinking about winning and the next game is against Lyon and after we have to think about Birmingham," Benitez told the Liverpool Daily Post. "This will be difficult but you can see other teams can lose points. We have to win against Birmingham that is the priority. The most important thing for me now is to know how many players we have available and to start preparing our team."

Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard could both be fit for the trip, and the Anfield club could also have David Ngog available for the clash. However, Benitez's policy of resting key players for European ties by taking them off early in the Premier League is causing some dissent among the club's supporters. On Saturday the goalscorer Torres were taken off while the score was still 1-1, and Yossi Benyoun followed when the game was still arguably salvageable.

Ronnie Whelan, who picked up a European Cup medal for the club during the 1980s, accused Benitez of "messing up completely" in his approach to the dual demands of Europe and the Premier League. "He showed me that he wants to win the Champions League and that's all he cares about - because of the team he picked," he told Irish television show Premier Soccer Saturday.

"He's taken players off who are the only players who are going to give you a chance of winning the game. And he drags them all off because he's got a game on Wednesday," Whelan continued. "He's putting all his eggs in one basket. If he loses in Lyon, he probably won't qualify for the Champions League knockout stages. So, he's out of the Champions League, he's not going to win the Premier League anyway - so he's messed up completely."

Another former Liverpool player, Jamie Redknapp, warned that the fans' trust in Rafa may soon wear thin. Writing in the Daily Mail, Redknapp said that "even the most ardent supporter must question the key decisions at Fulham. The supporters pride themselves on being real fans, with no knee-jerk reactions. They're not fickle like supporters of other clubs and they will always support the team. Benitez is fortunate that is the case."