On the morning of tonight's big clash with Tottenham, Liverpool co-owner George Gillett insists the board is fully behind manager Rafa Benitez. In an interview with Canadian radio station Prime Time Sports, Gillett insists Benitez has his and Tom Hicks' total backing.

"We believe if you were to put a list together of the top five coaches, managers in the world, he would definitely be on that list for us," said Gillett, who was united in his agreement with Hicks to give Benitez an improved five-year contract towards the end of last season.

"And we think he's been tossed a curve ball by circumstance, injuries and so forth.

"I think that's been a real challenge to the coach. He's had to really make some innovations and play some players out of position and so forth.

"And notwithstanding that, they've generally played with a lot of passion. I really believes it's a blip."

He added: "He (Benitez) has had a struggle getting the morale of the boys back up but we've got a great group of young men."