Rafa gushes forth

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has lauded his players spirit following their 1-0 success in Saturday’s Merseyside derby. The Reds played most of the match with 10-men after Sotirios Kyrgiakos was red-carded for an ill-timed challenge on Marouane Fellaini. Dutch international Dirk Kuyt grabbed the only goal of the hotly fought contest when he headed home Steven Gerrard's 55th-minute corner to boost the club’s top-four hopes. "Hopefully we'll have more confidence for the next game against Arsenal, we are doing much better and we won today with 10 players, so we cannot ask for more,” said Benitez. "It was an amazing performance from the team and a massive result for us. I felt the fans were behind the team working so hard and we were defending well and dangerous on the counter-attack. The commitment of our players was fantastic so everything was positive."