Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has defended his decision to leave Sami Hyypia out of his Champions League squad list.
"It was really difficult decision, but we had to do it. With the rule saying that you need more or less eight British - or local - players in the squads, we needed to decide which three centre-backs to have for the Champions League," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv.
Despite Hyypia's frustration, the Liverpool manager stressed that each of his defenders will get plenty of first-team opportunities over the course of the season.
"We now have four centre-backs who are good enough so they have to compete," said the boss. "And obviously it depends on the number of games we play and how we progress in the cup competitions too, so there could be a lot of games for many of our players."