Rafa Benitez claims his players need fear no one as they enter the business end of both the FA Cup and Champions League.
The league table will be forgotten over the coming days as Liverpool set about reaching the quarter finals of both cup competitions with ties against Barnsley and Inter.

Though league form will have some people doubting the Reds' cup credentials, Benitez is confident of bringing another piece of silverware back to the Anfield trophy room come May.

"We know we are not doing as well in the league and we must improve, but the FA Cup and Champions League are different competitions and we can beat anyone," the Spaniard told reporters at Melwood today.

Meanwhile, the Liverpool boss insists lessons have been learnt from this season's FA Cup third and fourth round ties, when his side were run close by lower divisions teams.

With Championship outfit Barnsley visiting Anfield on Saturday, Benitez is confident of staving off complacency.

He said: "We have a difficult game, and I say difficult because we have some experience in the Cup. Everybody says that we'll beat Barnsley but we must be careful and do the right things.

"Always when you play a team from another division you must still do your jobs properly. We have the game against Havant and Waterlooville as experience. We were thinking about scoring goals and we conceded.

"We knew before that game about the dangers, and if you remember we had a chance to score first with a Yossi Benayoun header. In this game we must not give the other team any options.

"Clearly this is a cup final for them, so it's a tough game. We also know they are physically very strong, so we must be careful. We have to give them a lot of respect.

"We have to score first and everything will be okay."

Meanwhile, Benitez revealed the deal to sign Javier Mascherano on a permanent deal was edging ever closer.

"We are closer than we were one week ago but I don't know how close," he said.

From www.liverpoolfc.tv/news
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