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Fit Gerrard stays with Reds
21/04/2008 17:05 - (SA)
Graham Chase
Liverpool - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez confirmed on Monday that Steven Gerrard will be fit to face Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League and then played down talk that his captain could be a summer transfer target for the Blues.
A neck problem sustained last week kept Gerrard out of the 2-0 win at Fulham at the weekend but he came through training on Monday and will be available for the first leg at Anfield.
Benitez has also had to put up with talk that Chelsea could be set to bid for Gerrard for a third time at the end of this season following comments from Avram Grant.
But the Spaniard believes that the importance of the game means that Grant's words have been twisted and he is not taking the claims seriously.
"When we played against Inter Milan, people were saying that Inter wanted Gerrard and hopefully it will be the same in the final against Barcelona or Manchester United," he said.
"Stevie is a fantastic player and he's 100 percent focused on his career with Liverpool. He's fit for the game. Maybe after he's scored the winning goal in the semi-final, maybe he will be worth more!
"When you have some experience you know these things can happen so if I was asked about (Didier) Drogba or (Frank) Lampard or someone, I would say that they're a very good player.
"We have enough experience to know that if anyone asks me or Avram Grant about a good player, we will say they're a good player."
Thinking about the game
There is speculation that co-owner Tom Hicks could be set to visit Anfield for the first time this year following months of off the pitch wrangling at Liverpool.
But Benitez maintains that the possibility of Hicks being at the game will not be a distraction.
"I don't think the fans will think too much about the directors box," said Benitez.
"As soon as the game starts, they'll be thinking about the game."
Having overcome Chelsea twice in the last three years in Champions League semi-finals, Benitez believes that the Londoners are as much of a threat under Grant as they were under Jose Mourinho.
"They are a very good team, well organised tactically, they have balance, they're good in attack and good in defence and good at set-pieces," he continued.
"They're more or less what they had before but that's positive. I don't need to analyse the style of the managers, the team is more or less the same.
"They have quality, they were in the final of the League Cup, the race for the title and the semi-finals of the Champions League so they're in a good position like they were before."
Benitez also insists that previous second legs at Juventus and Inter Milan, as well as coming through the group stage with a win in Marseille earlier this season show they have nothing to fear in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
"I would prefer to play the second game at Anfield but you can't change the situation and we'll do a good job here and see what happens there," Benitez added.
"If we score three here then maybe we won't have to score down there but we'll score what we need to score.
"We have some experience in difficult games away, we needed to win in Marseille and we scored four goals so we have enough confidence and quality to score goals."
- SAPA
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