Rafa: No Torres risks

Rafael Benitez today insisted he will take no risks with the returning Fernando Torres after ruling out the possibility of the striker starting Thursday's Europa League clash with Unirea Urziceni.

The Spain international made his first-team comeback as a late substitute against Manchester City on Sunday following five weeks on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

However, while delighted with Torres' progress, Benitez will continue to err on the side of caution over the fitness of the 25-year-old and will look to ease him back into the groove.

The boss told reporters at Melwood: "We knew we could use him against City. The idea was for 15-20 minutes, but still he is not ready. He needs match fitness and has to play and train and we will see later on how he is coming along.

"He was doing very well with the physios and fitness coach. He is really happy. We decided to put him in the squad (against City) because he was training well last Friday. Now he can carry on and progress. He will be ready soon.

"We have to be careful because it has been a long time. Now it is a question of one step at a time. You cannot push him too hard because you could lose the player and it is not necessary. We will see how he progresses and we will decide each day."

Asked whether Torres would figure against Unirea, Benitez replied: "He could do. We have to see him training and afterwards see how he is feeling. Then we will decide, but he will not start."

The No.9 was joined by Yossi Benayoun in making a return from injury at Eastlands, and Benitez confirmed Glen Johnson is the only player not currently available at his disposal.

But the manager expects the England defender to be back in full training imminently.

"We don't have too many (problems)," said Benitez. "The players who played the other day are available. Everyone is ready apart from Johnson.

"Johnson is very close. I think next week he will be training with the team, or maybe at the end of the week, but it will be the same situation we have with Torres. He will need time and we will introduce him little by little."

With key players available once again, Benitez is confident he will have the squad at his disposal to maintain their pursuit of a top four finish and progress in the Europa League.

He added: "If you have enough bodies, you can manage. Sometimes from experience, if you do not have too many people it is not important because you will play the same players all the time.

"But we have Torres, Yossi and Johnson coming back, three players with quality who can help, so we can manage using different players for different games.

"We are used to playing in important competitions at the same time. We have to approach this crucial time for us in the same way.

"We have to be ready to play two games a week, and all of them will be important games.

"Now we have injured players coming back, so it will be easier for me to use different players if necessary and maybe we can manage in a different way."

Meanwhile, Benitez admits he is anticipating a tough encounter against Unirea in Bucharest.

Liverpool will depart for Romania later today holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg thanks to David Ngog's 80^th minute winner at Anfield, though the Spaniard knows it will be another difficult clash for his charges.

He said: "As a team we are doing better now. Unirea are a good team and I am sure they are really focused on our game. It will be difficult and tough.

"They did well at home in the Champions League, so we know that we will have to work very hard if we want to progress.

"We will take it one game at a time. Now we want to progress in the Europa League and afterwards we will think about Blackburn."

Benitez reiterated his desire to clinch success in the Europa League - but is adamant the Reds cannot afford to look any further ahead than tomorrow's meeting with the Romanian champions.

"For us it is an opportunity to bring silverware here so we will try to do our best," said the gaffer.

"People are talking about me saying we will win the final, but we have to win against Unirea in this game to progress.

"Again, it is one step at a time, so we cannot talk about wining the final - we have to win the next game."

Video: Rafa's pre-Unirea chat>>