Rafa on Kenny, Spurs and Torres

Rafa Benitez took 10 minutes to chat to radio journalists ahead of our clash with Tottenham. Here's what he had to say...

Rafa on performances...

I want to be clear - I was really pleased with the teamwork and character the players showed the other day. The game wasn't the best but it is really difficult to play well in these types of games. So we showed a very, very good mentality and the workrate was fantastic. I am pleased with this, I am pleased because we needed to show character, and I think the fans realised the team was working hard for them too. We want to win and if we can we'll try to play well. But sometimes when you don't have too much confidence, you just have to get results. Last season we scored 119 goals, were playing really well and everyone was happy. Sometimes you cannot do this.

Rafa on last-minute goals...

Unfortunately it's true - we're talking about the same things. But in this game it was different because we were dealing with maybe 20 throw-ins, deep free-kicks, direct free-kicks and corners. It was really difficult and I was surprised when they scored because we did really well defending set pieces.

Rafa on bad times...

All the managers, when you've been in this business for a while, know you have good moments and bad moments. You have to analyse things and see how to react. I try to do this, try to stay calm. You also receive advice from those close to you. You have to keep working - you can't just talk.

Rafa on his reign...

Before playing against Tottenham is maybe not the right time to talk about this, but I will because everyone is talking a lot. The difference between the club then and now is massive in terms of money, value of the squad and the pride. The people are proud again. When I came here we won the Champions League for the first time in 21 years. We are the only club in England that has the trophy after winning it five times. As a club we have pride again, and that's very important. The fans realise this and they always try to push and support the team. They know you have good moments and bad moments. At this moment we are not playing well, we have to improve and we have this game against Tottenham. If we can win I'm sure we'll be a little bit happier and the race for fourth will maybe be easier.

Rafa on how much we need to improve...

I was talking to Kenny (Dalglish) the other day about steps. We talked about how we just need to make a short step now - but this step is the most difficult. We have improved and gone from a six out of 10 to maybe an eight or a nine. To go from nine to 10 is really difficult, especially now. If you analyse the history of the Premier League, the TV came and everyone has money. If you can sign £20-30million players it can make a massive difference. We know from our experience that if you do this, do it properly and are successful with one of these signings like Torres, it can make a massive difference.

Rafa on Kenny's support...

We talk sometimes but he's at the Academy with Frank McParland. We talk about how the players are doing in the Academy. The other day we had a short conversation about football. It was interesting because we talked about how the club is improving and the difficulty in taking one (final) step forward.

Rafa on the fans...

The fans were really good at Stoke, at half-time when it was 0-0 and we weren't playing really well. We were showing character and the fans were fantastic. At the end of the game I'm sure they were disappointed like everyone because we conceded a 90^th minute goal and after we had the chance and the penalty shout. But the fans, the real fan, know that to change things we have to support the players.

Rafa on desire...

We were talking yesterday - me, Sammy, Paco, Pellegrino, Xavi and the other staff - about how important it is to show the fans that we want to win. The players on the pitch have to show this character and the kind of teamwork the fans appreciate. I will try to fight for the fans too from now until the last day.

Rafa on Crouch and Keane returning...

If you have to name a player who'll score against us for Tottenham, it would have to be Defoe or Crouch or Keane. They are the strikers and they are scoring goals. They are both nice lads, good players and good professionals. They are not here now for different reasons. Crouch is a fantastic player but when he came he played 14 games and everyone criticised me for supporting him. But he's a good player and he did really well for England. He wanted to play every week so he went to Portsmouth and then Tottenham, which was fantastic for him. Hopefully he can score a lot of goals - for England. Keane came and he was a big name but sometimes players don't perform in your team the way you expected but he's playing well now for Tottenham. Again, all the best to him for Ireland. I don't want to see either of them scoring too many goals for Tottenham because we want to finish in the top four.

Rafa on Torres's surgery...

He had a problem with his knee and everything was fine with the surgery. Fernando and the doctor told me it was better than expected but still we are talking about five or six weeks.