Benitez hails Fowler effort

6 december 2006, 08:30

Koen Freriks

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez revealed that he left striker Robbie Fowler on the pitch in Turkey because he believed the veteran had the talent to salvage something from their 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray.

Fowler scored twice, the second in the final minutes, and strike partner Craig Bellamy was somewhat surprisingly withdrawn at a stage when he was threatening to haul the Merseysiders back into the match.

But Benitez claimed afterwards that he needed to use the game to try out different combinations in attack, saying: "Craig had been doing well, but I needed to see other strikers working, which is why I put on Peter Crouch. And Robbie needed to play a full 90 minutes, and he did very well."