Benitez takes heart from Liverpool display

Rafael Benitez has insisted Liverpool can recover from their mid-season crisis, despite suffering another setback in a frustrating draw at Stoke.

The under-pressure Reds boss was infuriated by referee Lee Mason’s failure to award what he claimed were two certain penalties in the 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium.

But he insisted the performance of his injury-ravaged squad represented a positive reaction after their FA Cup defeat to Championship strugglers Reading.

A last-minute equaliser from Robert Huth earned Stoke their point after Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos had given Liverpool the lead early in the second half after Thomas Sorenson fumbled a Fabio Aurelio free-kick.

The match might have evolved differently if Mason had not failed to award what television replays indicated was a clear penalty for Danny Higginbotham’s foul on Lucas Leiva in the first half, the official opting instead to book the Brazilian midfielder for diving.

Benitez felt a second foul on Lucas by Higginbotham late in the game, seconds before Dirk Kuyt hit the post with a header the post, should also have resulted in a penalty.

But he nevertheless maintained that Liverpool will head into Wednesday night’s pivotal Premier League game with Tottenham, one of their direct rivals for a top four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League, with renewed optimism.

He said: “We should have had two penalties, they were very clear to me.

“For me they were both penalties and it was the wrong decision. We have to be very disappointed, we can see the two incidents on the replays 100 times and you would still have the same opinion as everyone in the stadium.

“But we have to move on and be ready for the next challenge, and hopefully play as well as we did here.

“It is difficult to take because for 89 minutes we were winning. One point could have been three so we have lost two.”

“We showed the right character. We had players out with injury but the players here worked hard against a very difficult team.

“It was a physical game. In football some things go against you and you have problems but we have to keep going. I’m really pleased, it is something we can build on.”

Benitez also dismissed suggestions that some of his leading players had lost confidence in his ability to lead Liverpool to success.

“Talk of problems in the dressing room are not true,” he said. “You could see the response from the players’. Is someone saying there is a problem with Steven Gerrard? Not true. He was here today supporting the team, that says everything.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis dismissed Benitez’s complaints about the penalty decisions.

“You can look at all sorts of decisions,” he said. “I did not think it was a free-kick before they scored and probably (goalkeeper Thomas) Sorensen will have to take the blame for conceding a poor goal.

“But we got up a fair momentum in the end and I felt we deserved the draw.

“I certainly did not think that there was anything wrong with Liverpool’s performance. Their commitment and attitude was spot-on, they had a real go.

“I can understand where Rafa is coming from in complaining about the penalty decisions but you do that when you are on one side of the fence. I would do the same but these things are just part of the game.”