Put your best foot forward, Stevie
But the Liverpool boss has no worries about his skipper’s state of mind following a distressing accident on Monday which ended with a 10-year-old boy in hospital with a broken leg.
The youngster is believed to have run into the side of Gerrard’s car near his Birkdale home and the Liverpool star visited the boy, Jamie Hellawell, in hospital yesterday.
Front-page headlines about his captain were not what Benitez would have wanted ahead of tonight’s Champions League Group A home clash with Marseille.
But Benitez said: “Steven is fine, OK, he has trained normally and I have talked with him.
“He has been to see the lad in hospital, but I do not see any problem for Steven playing after the accident. Everybody understands the situation and what happened. Obviously Steven was disappointed with what happened. He has talked with the family and the boy.
“He was going very slow and it was an unfortunate accident. He was shaken up, but I have talked to him and he has been training normally. I do not expect it to be any sort of problem for him when he plays.”
Now Benitez, who has been critical of Gerrard’s recent form, wants to see a focused captain help secure what would be a significant Anfield victory against Marseille, who won their opening match in the group at home to Besiktas 2-0.
Benitez said: “Steven has had a little dip in form after the recent internationals, so now I want to see the real Steven Gerrard for the rest of the season. He has confidence and is a key player for us, and he is much better now than he was a couple of weeks ago when he was not at all fresh after the internationals.
“I will be hoping that this continues to improve, and we will see how he is after the next group of internationals. Now, though, he is certainly better.”
Benitez, whose side have not lost a European home leg in nine attempts and are unbeaten in all competitions this term, has some concerns about the arrival of an out-of-sorts Marseille at Anfield.
The French side will have former Liverpool men Djibril Cisse and Boudewijn Zenden in their squad, as well as a new coach in Belgian Eric Gerets, taking charge of Marseille for the first time after replacing Albert Emon last month.
Benitez said: “Marseille have had 10 days to prepare for this, and although they have not been doing well in their league, we know they will see this game as one that is vital to them particularly because they have already got one win in the group.
“A new manager makes it more difficult.
“They are more dangerous because their form in the French league is not good. They will be determined to produce their best form in the Champions League because of that and to get themselves back on track.
“Bolo and Djibril are both good players, they know us but we also know all about them. We know the pair will want to play well and show they are good players. We must be aware of this and make sure we do our job.”
He added: “Both players were good for us, they worked hard and did their best and I know our fans will say ‘thank you’ to them.
“They will be dangerous, they know all about our tactics and we will have to change a few things.”
Liverpool are without the suspended Jermaine Pennant, and have Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel competing for a wing role, but they have no other injury problems.
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