Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has shrugged off criticism of his rotation policy.

He told liverpoolfc.tv: "When you change big players people are going to talk, but September is not the time to talk about how many games players have played. I was talking with Dirk Kuyt.

"Players they talk to each other, and he said some of the players were feeling really tired after the internationals. It is up to you as a manager to make a decision, and sometimes people cannot always know what the situation is. For me it is sometimes a surprise to hear some professionals talking about these things without analysing the situation.

"But we know this is the way it is and we need to keep doing the things we think are best for us. If you end up with a player getting injured because he is tired, and then you lose them for one or two months, that is worse."