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• Sam Allardyce says Benítez sent DVD to referees chief
• Disc alleged to have documented Spaniard’s grievances

Sam Allardyce has rekindled his feud with Rafael Benítez by accusing the Liverpool manager of sending a DVD to the referees’ chief Keith Hackett in protest at his rival’s methods with Blackburn Rovers.

There has been no love lost between the managers since Allardyce, then in charge of Bolton Wanderers, inflicted the first league defeat of Benítez’s Anfield tenure in August 2004 and prompted the first in a series of complaints about his perceived direct, physical approach. The animosity deepened last season when Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson accused Benítez of showing contempt for Blackburn with an alleged dismissive gesture during Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Rovers at Anfield.

And their manager has continued his criticism of Benítez ahead of Rovers’ return to Liverpool tomorrow. Allardyce said: “I have no worries about what he thinks of me or my team. The most important thing to me is we can beat them on any given date and we know we can beat them because I did it at the Reebok.

“Because he didn’t like it he found an excuse about how we played. [Arséne] Wenger did it, [José] Mourinho did it; they all do it when they get their backside smacked. That will get him moaning about me again but I am not bothered. He even went as far as putting a DVD together and sending it to Keith Hackett. He doesn’t know I know that, but I do. I got on to Keith Hackett and told him I didn’t want it to influence what refs do because it is all a load of rubbish. He had a bee in his bonnet for a while.”

Ferguson and Allardyce claimed Benítez dismissed Blackburn with a hand gesture after Liverpool’s second goal last April, even though the Rovers manager did not witness anything at the time and everyone else inside Anfield that day suspected it was aimed at Xabi Alonso for taking a quick free-kick against his manager’s instruction.

But Allardyce said: “I won’t get an explanation for that. He is his own man and he does things his own way. I didn’t particularly like it. We were finished then because they got the second goal. They were terrific that day. Based on how well they finished last year I am very surprised they have gone through the turmoil they have in the past few months.”

Sam AllardyceBlackburn RoversRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier LeagueRefereesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

 Steven Gerrard walks off the training pitch with the England physiotherapist, Gary Lewin. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Steven Gerrard has been ruled out of the World Cup qualifier against Belarus after being unable to finish the training session with England today. He walked off with the physiotherapist, Gary Lewin, midway through the session while the rest of the squad carried on. The midfielder will now sit out the game against Belarus and could also be forced to miss Liverpool’s game at Sunderland at the weekend.

Fabio Capello will also be without the injured Wayne Rooney but has said that Rio Ferdinand is certain of starting the Group Six qualifier after discussing his mistake against Ukraine with the coach. “Rio will play against Belarus,” Capello said. “I have big confidence in Rio. He will play and I’m sure he will get better with every game. I spoke with Rio, on Monday and this morning, and I will speak also with some other players. We will see the DVD of the game to understand what happened and I will see the mistakes.”

The goalkeeper David James was the only player to miss training completely while Gerrard returned to the dressing room midway through the session. James’s problem is not thought to be serious and the Portsmouth goalkeeper has not been sent back to his club. Gerrard, however, has returned to Liverpool for further treatment. “He didn’t finish training because the pain was the same as yesterday. He’s going back to Liverpool,” the England coach, Fabio Capello, said. “David James is not training. He had problems [with his knee] but is getting better. I will decide tomorrow whether he will play or not.”

Liverpool will fear that it is a recurrence of the groin problem which saw him have a scan after the defeat in Ukraine. Liverpool play Sunderland on Saturday, Lyon in the Champions League three days later and then Manchester United the following weekend in a crucial period for Rafael Ben