Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has dedicated his Barclays Manager of the Month award for October to the club's coaching staff.

"I am really pleased to be named manager of the month but the award is not just for me, it is good for the club and also my staff," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"I think that all managers need to have good backroom staff.

"Everyone is doing a very good job and that is important. It allows me to concentrate on different things because I know that they will do the job properly."

Liverpool's rise to the top of the table has been characterised by several late comebacks and Benitez feels that the training programmes drawn up by fitness coach Paco de Miguel have been an important factor in giving his players the energy levels to stage such fightbacks.

He said: "You can see from our comebacks this season that the team is physically really good.

"It is important to keep the players fresh and match fit and Paco is doing a good job."

Benitez also reserved praise for goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero, adding: "He is someone who has fresh ideas. He is passionate and wants to improve. He takes care of the small details and I think he has a bright future ahead of him as tries to learn something new every year."