Red Scouse

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has voiced his disappointment at losing 3-1 against Fulham this afternoon, saying that the late dismissals of Jamie Carragher and Philipp Degen influenced the outcome.

"It was very clear that Carragher was kicking the ball away, and also I think that Zamora was telling the referee so I was really surprised," Benitez told Sky Sports. "These two incidents at the end changed everything.

"We had some time and were playing well so it's not a question of 'you cannot [win]'," he explained. "I think that we had time, we were in control, and we were attacking so when you play with 10 players and lose them and after a few minutes the second red card and one less player I think that it's really difficult."

On his decision to substitute Fernando Torres with half an hour to go, Benitez insisted he did so to prevent the Spaniard picking up an injury.

"We knew that it was difficult to play him [Fernando Torres] from the beginning or maybe to keep him on the bench