BENITEZ AFTER THE LONG NIGHT

Benitez: 'I'm sure we're going to start scoring soon.

You can be sure Rafa's mind was buzzing all last night as he reflected on how Liverpool, yet again, failed to gain anything from a game which we controlled.

The morning after the night before Rafa came out of the blocks insisting that his new Liverpool side is more than capable of still hunting down that 19th title.

"We need to keep going. It's a long race. All we can do is think of Newcastle and the next three points. We will see how close we are later on.

"This is not the time to be thinking about the league table. As a manager, I need to see if the team is improving and it's clear to me it is.

Rafa was clear that the key rests with the Liverpool strike-force.

"The key for us is to start scoring goals. After three games away from home, in which we created a lot of chances, I'm sure we're going to start scoring soon.

"We'll see how the players are in two days, but it's good for us to be back at Anfield now where we're usually stronger.

"Tactically, the team looks much better. We deserved more from the game because we did good things for a long time. We created enough chances to score first and draw later. We conceded a good goal, but just couldn't score ourselves. We did the right things against a good team.

"The disappointing thing is that we are losing but I have confidence in the team if we keep playing like this. It's clear we need more points but there's a long way to go. It is the beginning of the season.

"The players were really disappointed in the dressing room because they know they created chances, played well and controlled the game. It's a pity when you don't deserve to lose and you know you deserve more, but the players can keep their heads up."