Benitez defiant ahead of showdown with Lyon

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has gone on the defensive ahead of Wednesday night's crucial Champions League clash against Lyon by insisting he has a good record in the transfer market and that he intends to remain at Anfield for years to come.

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Under pressure: Rafael Benítez

Benitez goes into a game he dare not lose with a squad decimated by injury and illness. Defeat to Lyon, coupled with a win for Fiorentina over Debrecen, would leave the Reds on the brink of an early exit of the competition.

A seventh defeat in eight games would be something Liverpool have not experienced since Bill Shankly's appointment as manager, 50 years ago on December 1.

Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio and Albert Riera are all set to be missing. It has been suggested that both Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres will need surgery to clear up their injury problems in the long term.

Benitez said: "We do not want either player to have an operation, we will hope that they continue to improve. It is too early to say just yet.''

Benitez was quick to defend his tenure at Tuesday's press conference. He said: "I am very pleased to be here and I wish to be here for a long time.

"At one stage 14 players were injured or had a virus, no club could cope with that. It is not easy with this injury crisis. If any of the top sides in England lost four or five of their very best players and then four or five from their bench, they would struggle.

"People do not realise how important Torres and Gerrard are until you lose them, this situation is not easy for anyone. But we will do our best and we do have the experience of such situations.

"Two years ago we also needed to win our final three group matches, and we succeeded. We can do that again.

"The players here are strong enough for this challenge. The mentality of the group is good, and they are determined to win. The players are working very hard, they are positive and determined. They know this result is important for the club, for everyone.

"But our fans have not turned. They are clever people, they know the position the club was in when I arrived and they know what position it is in now, they know this is the only way.

"It is important for everyone to see the bigger picture, I am sure things will change in a few weeks when we have our players fit again. When we have our big players available, everything will change.

"I do not accept that we have not signed good players, some may not have settled as quickly, but we are doing a good job. This is not the right time to be discussing our signings. But we do have good players, and we have too many injuries.

"We have signed very good players, we have a good team and a good squad.

"Losing would be bad for us, bad for the club, but we will keep going. But we are not thinking that way, we are only thinking of winning. In a few weeks these problems will have gone. Key players will be fit.''

Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt summed up the attitude of the senior players, saying: "Situations like this bring people closer together, the whole team. We showed how we could react to bad situations when we beat Manchester United recently, we can produce results like that again.

"We have recovered from a bad start in a Champions League group before, and we can do it again. We have to believe that we can do it.

"At Liverpool we are expected to win every game, we are used to that sort of pressure, it is normal. This sort of pressure is what playing top-level football is all about. It is what being a big player at a big club is like.''