Gillett backs under-fire Rafa

RAFAEL BENITEZ received the dreaded vote of confidence yesterday as Liverpool co-owner George Gillett backed the Spaniard to turn things around at Anfield.

Liverpool are currently enduring their worst run in 22 years, having lost four games in a row, results that have seriously hindered their domestic and European ambitions.

To add to Benitez’s woes their next game is against bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday where defeat would see them fall 10 points behind the champions.

Liverpool’s patchy form has led to calls from certain sections of the Liverpool support for Benitez to be sacked.

However Gillett insists Benitez is ‘absolutely as good as there is in the business’ and insists he has the full backing of the club’s board. Gillett is also sure fellow co-owner Tom Hicks is fully behind the Spaniard.

“I have seen his television interview and I know he is disappointed. We are all disappointed, but we are in this together.’’

Despite Liverpool’s stuttering form, Manchester United defender Gary Neville says United must be wary at Anfield. Neville acknowledges that United go into the game in a better frame of mind than Liverpool, but that will count for very little when the two teams cross the white line.

“It’s far too early to talk about knocking Liverpool out of the title race, we’re only nine or 10 games into the season,’’ Neville said. “Any team in the top four is capable of winning six or seven games on the trot and getting back into it. We just need to think about our performance and what we do.”

“This is always a great fixture, a passionate fixture but a game that can always go either way. We just hope we’re at the top of our game, because you have to be in these ones.

“It was important to keep a clean sheet against CSKA (Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday night), especially going into Sunday’s game. We’re happy with how we defended.”

United’s confidence is high, having won 10 of the last 11 games in all competitions. However, Neville feels the Reds still have plenty to prove themselves. “We should have won more,” he said. “In the game at home to Sunderland we didn’t play very well.

“We were kicking ourselves after that one. But the season’s going well on the whole. After losing at Burnley, we’ve recovered well and we’ve got into our stride.”