Football - Liverpool FC: Walking wounded did us proud in Merseyside derby says Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benitez

Dec 1 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Football - Liverpool FC: RAFAEL BENITEZ has hailed the attitude of Liverpool’s walking wounded – as he admitted there was no target date for the return of Fernando Torres.

Benitez has revealed a number of his squad are currently playing through the pain barrier as they either return form injury or put to one side niggling problems.

The Anfield outfit were forced to dig deep on Sunday when a strong rearguard action ensured a 2-0 win at neighbours Everton.

Steven Gerrard pushed himself through the full 90 minutes for the second time inside a week despite an obvious lack of training in recent weeks due to a groin problem.

Along with the skipper, Glen Johnson, Albert Riera, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio and Yossi Benayoun all featured at Goodison following recent injuries.

And Benitez said: “Gerrard has found it hard. He has played three difficult games in a row without training for three weeks prior, and that is tough.

“People have to understand that some players are trying very hard to help the team when they are not really fit. But they want to play, and their attitude is very positive.

“Now we have a week of training, and I hope we will see a lot more of them fitter for the next game.”

Benitez added: “There are several players who maybe should not be out there at the moment. They are not fully fit, they are not training and they have injuries.

“But we are working so hard together. We are seeing players involved when they should really be on the treatment table.

“But they all wanted to play, to do a job for the team and to work to get us going again as a team.”

Torres, who continues to be hampered by a sportsman’s hernia, failed a fitness test to recover in time for the visit to Goodison.

Benitez will monitor the striker’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers but admits the Spain international has yet to complete his initial course of treatment.

“Fernando is close, but he still has some pain,” said the Liverpool manager. “We now have a week to work with him and for the physios to try to get him fit to play.

“We will monitor this every day and then decide. But we do not want to take any risks with him now, he needed three weeks of treatment and that is not fully completed yet.

“There is no deadline. We will have to decide after we have watched him working this week.”

Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano believes he should be credited with the opening strike in the Merseyside derby despite it going down as a Joseph Yobo own goal.

He said: “I think it’s my goal because I tried to score with the shot. “It was a really important moment for me because I want to do my best.

“This season some people have criticised my shooting but I am trying hard to improve it and I am happy.”