Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is happy to have defensive trio Martin Kelly, Mikel San Jose and Daniel Ayala as part of his preseason squad.

He told liverpoolfc.tv: "We decided to bring the young players because we wanted to see them with the first-team players and also playing some games.

"Okay, they have to fight. We will 100 per cent consider them for the season. We have to decide about one or two things to finalise in pre-season, but in terms of these players, we think they have a great future at the club. We are monitoring them to see if they can give us something in the season, and they're improving and working really hard."