Why Rafa played Gerrard

Rafael Benitez revealed match-winner Steven Gerrard would not have played in Liverpool's 2-1 Carling Cup victory over Cardiff if Mohamed Sissoko had not been sick

Benitez said: "I would have wanted really to leave Steven out of the match. But we have too many injuries and Momo was sick again, so he had to play. And in the end he was the one who scored the vital goal."

He added: "Cardiff worked very hard and were always dangerous from set-pieces, and that is where their equaliser came from. But then Gerrard got through to score a typical goal. His form is coming back, as are his goals. That is three now in successive games."

Cardiff boss Dave Jones, a former Everton player who has a son in Liverpool's academy system, admitted it was only Gerrard's intervention that stopped his side producing a more memorable result.

Jones said: "It was Gerrard that really killed us - only he could have turned the game like that. So I'm going to have to get my son to duff him up in training!"