Injury list grows for L'pool
Afp, London
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez emerged from his side's successful Champions League test against Maccabi Haifa with mixed feelings on Tuesday after seeing his injury list grow. Liverpool scraped through to the Champions League group stages after a less than convincing 3-2 aggregate victory following a 1-1 draw against the Israelis. But as they head into their final Premiership game before the international break, Benitez has concerns. Full back Stephen Warnock is out for two weeks with an ankle injury while midfielder Mohamed Sissoko should miss three weeks with a knee problem. Benitez said: "We are in the group stages and I believe we deserve to be so ... But the worst thing for us is the injuries to Stephen and Momo. Both will be out for a while." That means they will miss Saturday's home league game with West Ham, along with Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise and Gabriel Paletta, who all missed the trip to the neutral ground in Kiev with injuries. It was a subdued Benitez who now awaits the Champions League draw in Friday, knowing his team are among the top seeds and are now guaranteed around 12 million pounds (22.7 million dollars) in cash from the UEFA pot. But he said: "We are not at 100 per cent yet, I know that. It has been a difficult preparation for this season with so many of the players returning at different times from the World Cup. "When we have got over this game with West Ham and then the two-week international break you will see a side improving and progressing together and ready to take on the really big teams in the Champions League. "You will see a much better team then." The crucial aggregate victory came about thanks to Peter Crouch's second-half header, and means Liverpool have reached the stage of the competition where the really big money can be earned, which Benitez has already said is vital to pay for his squad rebuilding. "It has been very hard to get the players to the same level of physical preparation," added the Spaniard. "They have all returned from the summer at different times because of the World Cup and that has made things very difficult. "Maybe after the next couple of weeks and then when the international break is over you will see a side that can progress more together."
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