Benitez hit with triple injury blow

RAFAEL BENITEZ has suffered a serious blow in his battle to salvage Liverpool’s shattered season, losing the services of three star players.

Top scorer Fernando Torres, talismanic captain Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun, arguably the club’s best outfield player this term, all learned yesterday they face lay-offs after undergoing scans. The trio were all injured in the humiliating FA Cup loss to Championship strugglers Reading which piled on the pressure for Benitez.

The injury to Torres is the biggest blow with the Spain striker requiring surgery on a torn knee cartilage that will rule him out for six weeks. Gerrard is expected to be missing for a fortnight with a torn hamstring while Benayoun will be absent for up to four weeks with a fractured rib. The loss of players he has been regularly been criticised for relying too heavily on is the last thing Benitez needed in the aftermath of another embarrassing result.