Benitez – Aquilani and Johnson return are two positives!

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his team drop points against Birmingham, but still managed to take a few positives out of the game, as Glen Johnson returned to the side, and the £20m signing Alberto Aquilani finally made his Anfield debut.

Liverpool lost Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun to hamstring injuries, and an even bigger worry is Daniel Aggers back problem.

With Jamie Carragher suspended, Agger is desperately needed to play in defence against Man City in 10 days time. He has withdrawn from the Denmark squad for this weeks internationals, and Benitez admitted his concerns.

“We thought that Agger would be OK to play against Birmingham, but you could see he was not right, his back was giving him problems again.” said Benitez.

He is also still unsure whether Fernando Torres will be fit to face City either as he has begun a three week course of rest and treatment. “He is having treatment that could keep him out for two or three weeks.

“Gerrard seems OK, we will be careful with him.”

Benitez continued: “The plus points are that Johnson was back and playing well, while Aquilani finally got a chance to play at Anfield.

“It was a difficult time for him to come on, with us battling for the third goal against a packed defence.

“There were negatives with new injuries, but the positives are that we had two players making an impact.”