Benitez determined to avoid another FA Cup humiliation

RAFAEL BENITEZ’S first brush with the FA Cup produced humiliation and the wrath of his newly-adopted home but the Spaniard insists it will be different the second time around.

Mention Burnley to the Liverpool manager and he manages a weak smile no doubt caused by the memory of the mauling he received for what was perceived was an insult to the most famous cup competition in the world.

No amount of insisting he had not intentionally devalued the competition by fielding a weakened side in a painful 1-0 third-round defeat at Turf Moor last season allowed him an escape from the criticism.

Now with another third round tie looming, away to Luton, Benitez said: "I can promise everyone that we will be trying to win.

"And I would love to see Liverpool in the final, all the better if it's at Wembley.

"When we lost at Burnley last season it was probably our lowest point." This time Benitez will not claim he has a limited squad or a packed fixture list to contend with. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, left on Merseyside for the Burnley humbling, will play this time.

Last January Liverpool were in the middle of five matches in 15 days and Benitez felt something had to give.

The fact the FA Cup was sacrificed and the Champions League was won, in his mind, proves him right.

"I was criticised by a lot of people last season but we knew then how important the cup was, we knew that from when we were in Spain watching the finals on TV," he said.

"We have a better squad this season and we can manage all the competitions. With the transfer window open, if we sign the players we need, we can approach the FA Cup thinking about winning the trophy, just as we approach the Premiership and the Champions League in the same way.

"We have more experience now. When you say that people think that beforehand you made lots of mistakes.

"I still do not think that was the case. I needed to work with the squad I had last season. We decided to use different players in different competitions but there is a big difference now, the squad is much stronger than last season.

"We can use different players and the team will still play well. We can manage two or three competitions and we can continue to win games."

The key to the different approach is the club are finally over the huge workload they have had to endure since early July.

The Champions League qualifiers are over, they won the Super Cup but were knocked out of the Carling Cup and have negotiated the problems of a trip to Japan for the Club World Championship.

With just a couple of Premiership matches in hand on their rivals, normality has finally returned to Liverpool.

"People said before we went to Japan it would be difficult to win games afterwards. Well we have won three and drawn one since we came back, that means the team is fit," said Benitez.

"Now we have the FA Cup, just one game this week. For the next two weeks it is the same, just one game each time.

"It means we have time for training and preparation. We are not playing too much and we can approach Luton with a strong team and determination to win."

However, he added: "It does not always follow that fielding a good strong side means you win cup ties. Things go wrong, that's football."