Rafa Benitez urged his players to focus on Premier League and Champions League glory after their FA Cup agony at Goodison.
Benitez was crestfallen at Dan Gosling’s last-gasp winner but insisted he was proud that his players battled on after Lucas Leiva’s second half dismissal.
Benitez said: “To play for so long with 10 players and then to concede right at the end to a deflection you have to be disappointed.
“The players worked so hard and then we had some bad luck at the end - we have to accept this.
“I don’t think our confidence will take a blow. The players showed great character and when you lose in this way it won’t affect the confidence of the team.
“It’s very disappointing to be out of the Cup but now we have to concentrate on the league and the Champions League so there is still a lot to play for.
“They are two massive competitions and we are in a very good position.”
Liverpool’s hopes suffered a major blow when skipper Steven Gerrard was forced off with a hamstring injury after just 16 minutes.
The midfielder will undergo a scan today but is a major doubt for Saturday’s league trip to Portsmouth.
“I don’t know how long Steven will be out for,” said Benitez.
“He was injured and he asked to come off. He will have a scan and we will have to wait and see.
“When I took him off last week, people were saying he should be playing every single minute. Well now you see the consequences of that.”
Benitez was clearly unhappy with referee Alan Wiley’s decision to dismiss Brazilian Lucas for a second bookable offence 14 minutes from the end of normal time but bit his lip.
“The sending off was the turning point but I prefer not to say anything,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Benitez also defended his decision to replace Fernando Torres with Ryan Babel in extra time.
“Torres was really tired and that’s why I took him off,” he added.
“Clearly he needs to keep playing games and keep training because his match fitness is not the best. He’s not really sharp yet.”
Benitez was crestfallen at Dan Gosling’s last-gasp winner but insisted he was proud that his players battled on after Lucas Leiva’s second half dismissal.
Benitez said: “To play for so long with 10 players and then to concede right at the end to a deflection you have to be disappointed.
“The players worked so hard and then we had some bad luck at the end - we have to accept this.
“I don’t think our confidence will take a blow. The players showed great character and when you lose in this way it won’t affect the confidence of the team.
“It’s very disappointing to be out of the Cup but now we have to concentrate on the league and the Champions League so there is still a lot to play for.
“They are two massive competitions and we are in a very good position.”
Liverpool’s hopes suffered a major blow when skipper Steven Gerrard was forced off with a hamstring injury after just 16 minutes.
The midfielder will undergo a scan today but is a major doubt for Saturday’s league trip to Portsmouth.
“I don’t know how long Steven will be out for,” said Benitez.
“He was injured and he asked to come off. He will have a scan and we will have to wait and see.
“When I took him off last week, people were saying he should be playing every single minute. Well now you see the consequences of that.”
Benitez was clearly unhappy with referee Alan Wiley’s decision to dismiss Brazilian Lucas for a second bookable offence 14 minutes from the end of normal time but bit his lip.
“The sending off was the turning point but I prefer not to say anything,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Benitez also defended his decision to replace Fernando Torres with Ryan Babel in extra time.
“Torres was really tired and that’s why I took him off,” he added.
“Clearly he needs to keep playing games and keep training because his match fitness is not the best. He’s not really sharp yet.”
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