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• Midfielder defends decision to substitute Torres
• Captain Gerrard vows to keep fighting for fourth

Yossi Benayoun has revealed the depth of disappointment and frustration his Liverpool team-mates feel over being out of contention for major domestic honours.

The Israel midfielder also acknowledged that Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were out of their own hands, thanks to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham yesterday. Rafael Benítez’s team are four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, having played a game more and with five matches remaining.

“It is hard to explain,” he said. “There is a big difference between last season [and this]. Performances were much better then and we had more confidence. This season we started badly in the very first game. Yes, there was a moment when we thought we were coming back but then we disappointed ourselves with a few bad games.

“It is very difficult when you are not close to the top and you do not feel as if you have the chance to win something. It is disappointing but we will keep going. We are fighting for fourth place. I know it is important but it just isn’t the same. We have made it harder but all we can do is play the last five games and see what happens.

“We are now depending on other results and this makes it more difficult. It was a big chance at Birmingham. They are a good team but we had to win, especially after Tottenham lost at Sunderland. We have to keep believing but it is very disappointing. All we can do now is think about the next game. We know we need to win and we have to play much better.”

Yesterday, the Spain striker Fernando Torres looked unhappy when he was substituted with 25 minutes of the game left, shortly after Liam Ridgewell had equalised for Birmingham.

Benayoun said: “Substitutions are part of the game and it is the job of the manager to do what he thinks is best for the team.

“We changed and tried to create but we missed three good chances. We put lots of pressure on in the last 15-20 minutes and some days, you score those chances and you end up winning 3-1 or 4-1. But when you are unlucky and hit a defender, or there is a great save by the keeper, it’s part of the game.”

Steven Gerrard, who scored Liverpool’s goal against Birmingham, conceded that his side were now underdogs to take fourth place.

“To give ourselves a better chance, we had to take maximum points at Birmingham,” the captain said. “It’s going to be really difficult now. But I think what you notice is the race for fourth place seems to change from week to week. You have to look at the teams above us. They’re the favourites and we’re the underdogs at the moment. But we’ll keep fighting all the way to the end.

“People say we are capable of winning our last five games but that’s what we said with six games to go. It’s all right saying we’ll be all right if we go and win our last five games. We have to go out on to the pitch and win them rather than talk about it.

“It will be difficult but we have the experience and we’re hoping that will be vital in the end. But I think it’ll go down to the wire.”

LiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

• Israeli midfielder returns a year after conquering Bernabéu
• Fernando Torres likely to be on the bench

This is what comes of a backward step. One year ago today Liverpool supporters danced around the Bernabéu after Yossi Benayoun’s late header added Real Madrid to their litany of conquests among the European elite. Tonight it is Bucharest, Unirea Urziceni and the Europa League: the signposts of a miserable 12-month journey.

The assignment would not reflect so badly on Rafael Benítez’s team but for the anniversary that illustrates the tortuous road travelled since, although they require no reminder themselves. Liverpool’s approach in the first meeting with the Romanian champions provided little immediate evidence of complacency towards the competition, only a shortage of answers to an obstinate defence, but the timing of the return provides a test of their focus.

“There is obviously a contrast between the Real Madrid game and the game in Bucharest now, but that is football and you cannot be too disappointed,” admitted Benayoun, whose return from rib and back problems against Manchester City on Sunday brings hope of greater invention tonight. “We have been an important team, a big team in the Champions League in recent seasons. Hopefully, we will finish in the top four in the Premier League and be back in it next season.

“For us it is still a very important game. Of course we wanted to be in the Champions League group stages but now we have to concentrate on the league and the Europa League. We won 1-0 last week and we have the advantage and have to finish things off. We are playing for a title which would be important. It gives us a chance to do something positive this season.”

The Liverpool manager mentioned Benayoun and Fernando Torres in the same breath yesterday as he responded to criticism over his caution at City but conceded that, with the Israel captain and the Spanish striker available again, they should be more expansive in coming games. It was a mark of how deeply Benítez has missed Benayoun since January and also the midfielder’s rise since that personal landmark in Madrid.

“For me it was a special moment,” he recalls. “Firstly to score a goal with my head in the Bernabéu was special because it is not the strongest part of my game. Personally, I think that game changed my Liverpool career. The goal gave me a lot of confidence and I think since then I have played a lot better for Liverpool. It was definitely the defining moment of my career. I had played good games and bad games before this, but really after this goal I started playing better and better.”

Torres is expected to be among the substitutes at the Steaua Stadium which hosts Unirea’s home games in Europe as their 7000-capacity Tineretului Stadium does not meet Uefa standards. The relocation did not hinder the Romanians in the Champions League group stage – when they drew at home with Stuttgart and Rangers before beating Sevilla – but Liverpool’s recent record of just two goals in their last seven away games suggests the Spaniard may not remain on the bench all evening.

“One-nil is not the best result but it is a good result if we can score here,” said Benítez, whose side required an 81st-minute goal from David Ngog for their first-leg advantage. “At home we created three or four clear chances but their keeper played well. The Romanian press were critical of them for being too defensive and positive about us. In England it was the other way around! But we know we can score against them and we know they have to attack if they want to change things which will give us more space to exploit. With Yossi coming back, Torres back, Babel, Kuyt and Gerrard we have more offensive players and hopefully it can be better.”

Unirea Urziceni (4-1-4-1): Arlauskis; Maftei, Galamaz, Fernandes, Munteanu; Paraschiv; Onofras, Paduretu, Apostol, Frunza; Bilasco.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Insúa; Mascherano, Lucas; Benayoun, Gerrard, Babel; Kuyt.

Referee S Johannesson (Sweden)

LiverpoolUefa Europa LeagueFernando TorresAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Midfielders break down with hamstring injuries
• Liverpool wait on extent of injury to Glen Johnson

Rafael Benítez’s worst fears over the fitness of Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera have been confirmed after the Liverpool midfielders were diagnosed with torn hamstrings that could sideline them for a month.

The Liverpool manager has been beset by injury problems during a dreadful sequence of one win in nine games and immediately suspected hamstring tears after the duo limped out of Monday’s draw with Birmingham City.

Scans have confirmed Benítez’s worries and, although the club have refused to put a timeframe on their recovery, they are expected to be out for around three to four weeks. Riera was absent for three weeks with his initial hamstring injury, only to aggravate the problem just 45 minutes into his return against Alex McLeish’s side.

The losses of Riera and particularly Benayoun represent major setbacks for Benítez, who, with the notable exception of Fernando Torres, had reason to believe his injury crisis was easing before the Birmingham game. Benayoun and Riera will almost certainly miss the home game with Manchester City on 21 November plus the European trip to Hungary to face Debrecen three days later.

Liverpool must beat the Hungarian champions Debrecen to retain hope of advancing from the Champions League group stage, although qualification will be beyond Benítez’s team should Fiorentina defeat Lyon in Italy on the same night.

The demanding sequence continues for Liverpool with the first Merseyside derby of the season at Everton on 29 November, when the Israel captain and Spain international could still be absent.

Liverpool should today discover the full extent of the calf problem that forced Glen Johnson’s withdrawal from the England squad to meet Brazil in Doha this weekend. The right-back has been hindered by calf and groin injuries in recent weeks, and Daniel Agger withdrew from Denmark’s squad for friendlies against South Korea and the United States after suffering a reaction to a persistent back problem against Birmingham. Liverpool are hopeful, however, that the Dane’s complaint will not cause another long-term lay-off.

Torres and Steven Gerrard are continuing to receiving daily treatment on their respective hernia and adductor problems as Liverpool attempt to eradicate the need for their key talents to undergo surgery. “We will see how he reacts,” Benítez said of the Spain striker yesterday. “We are not considering an operation yet. We haven’t got a deadline. We just need to see how he is every day.”

LiverpoolPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk