RAFA PRAISES FANTASTIC REDS

Steve Hunter 01 January 2007 Rafael Benitez was full of praise for his players and described his team's second half performance during the 3-0 win over Bolton as fantastic.

The Liverpool manager said his team showed a great desire for victory and praised the work-rate of his players. "My team was fantastic and we scored three amazing goals and it's a great way to start the new year," enthused Benitez. "In the first half I thought we were a little anxious but I told the players at half-time to keep passing and moving and we would get some chances. "Crouch scored an amazing goal and could have scored a couple more, it was nice for Gerrard to score after being awarded the MBE and Kuyt scored a deserved goal. Kuyt's work-rate was unbelievable. I thought Dirk would have been tired but he kept running and took his goal nicely. "I'm really pleased with my players as their contribution today was fantastic and Pennant was important for us in the wide areas. "Overall I'm not happy with our form over Christmas because we should have beaten Blackburn. We had a lot of chances in that game and we need to take them when we create as we did today."