Benitez takes new charges to Wales for pre-season encounter

LIVERPOOL’S big guns return to action this week as new boss Rafael Benitez takes charge of an Anfield side for the first time.

The Reds will give little Wrexham a welcome helping hand as they open their pre-season campaign at the Racecourse tomorrow night.

The game will provide the financially-troubled Welsh club a useful cash injection and the presence of Michael Owen, who is believed to have asked specially to play, will also please the fans.

England striker Owen, who has lived at nearby at Hawarden all his life, was on the club’s books as a schoolboy, when he played alongside current Wrexham player Steve Roberts.

Wrexham are expected to pick up around £160,000 in gate receipts from the game in their first 15,500 sell-out since their new stand was built in 1999. Owen, who has yet to sign the new two-year contract believed to have been offered, returned to training yesterday alongside the rest of the club’s Euro 2004 contingent.

Steven Gerrard, Dietmar Hamann, Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer were all given an extra week’s rest because of their efforts in Portugal. It is expected new signing Djibril Cisse and Gerrard will both play against Wrexham, the England midfielder also requesting to feature in preparation for the three-game trip to the USA, which starts on Saturday.

The friendly gives Benitez, still to make a signing, the first chance to see his new squad in action and unveil his new all-Spanish coaching staff of Jose Ochotorena, Paco Herrera and Pako Ayestaran. Phil Thompson, Sammy Lee and Joe Corrigan have all left.

Midfielder Danny Murphy said: “Pre-season is one of those times that you just want to get over and done with as quickly as possible.

“The games are part of that but they are a nice distraction from being put through our paces on the training pitch. They’re a nice break and something we all look forward to.

“The American tour will be interesting and I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be interesting to see how their public take to us because we’re not sure how much they know about soccer over there and it should be a really good experience.

“The games will be important because, one, it gives you a chance to express yourself and two, it’s what we’re actually training for.”

The game at Wrexham, where Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry’s son attends their school of excellence, will start what the Welsh club hope will be a lucrative association with their neighbours. When Chester recently decided to end their agreement to stage Liverpool’s reserve games, the Anfield club switched their second-team matches to Wrexham, who are so broke that twice last term their players’ wages were delayed.

Wrexham will pick up around £2,000 for staging each Liverpool reserve game and keep all the gate money, apart from the mini derby with Everton.