Rafa challenges Riera and Babel to fight for their place

Reds boss Rafa Benitez has challenged Ryan Babel and Albert Riera to fight for their place in the Liverpool squad. Both players have recently expressed dissatisfaction at not being able to secure a regular place in the team, with Ryan Babel stating he wished to move back to Ajax on loan to improve his World Cup chances. But the message from Benitez is clear: 'prove yourself'.

He said: "Albert and Ryan both want to play. They play in the same position and so have to compete with each other, which is good for us," said Benitez in the Independent.

"The message is very simple. On the pitch all of the players have to prove something.

"Ryan knows he cannot go now, so he has to impress. He is a good player and we know he has talent. It's important for us to talk with him and see how he progresses over these months.

"With the World Cup at the end of the season the majority of our players will want to impress and if they do well in each training session they will have more chances."