Benitez to stand by Gerrard

Rafa Benitez has given his 'full support and backing' to Steven Gerrard following the midfielder's arrest in Southport on Monday.

Gerrard is to appear in court on January 23 after being charged with assault and affray following an incident in a Southport in the early hours of Monday morning but he has won the backing of his manager after the two spoke on Tuesday, with Benitez seemingly satisfied with his captain's explanation of events.

"Steven is our captain and a key player for us, but more than this, I know him as a nice person," the Reds boss said.

"I sat down with him this morning and had a very good talk with him about the situation and I was also able to speak at length with our club lawyer.

"Steven explained to me what had happened and I told him he has my full support and backing, along with everyone else at the football club."

Benitez added: "He's trained with the other lads this morning after a couple of days off for the squad and is keen now to focus solely on his football.

"We've worked very hard to get into the position we're in going through to the new year and all of us are determined to keep that progress going.

"We'll do whatever we can to support Steven in the weeks ahead, but we're now concentrating on our preparation for the FA Cup game at Preston this weekend."

Meanwhile, reports suggest Benitez is prepared to offload £7million flop Andrea Dossena in the transfer window with a move back to Italy on the cards.

Dossena has failed to impress at Anfield in the first half of the season and it appears Benitez is ready to cut his losses and let the Italian international full-back return for as little as £3.5million, with Milan said to be considering whether to make an offer.