Date: 27 Oct 2009 Comments: 0

The Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani is expected to join the Liverpool squad for the first time tomorrow night for the Carling Cup match against Arsenal.

Aquilani played 15 minutes for the Liverpool reserves last week, and has had a full weeks training since to improve his fitness, but not having played a competitive match for four months he will start on the bench.

Benitez said: “He will be with us. He is improving his fitness, so he’s in the squad,”

“He cannot start at this moment but he will be there and maybe we can give him some minutes. If it’s possible we will try to use him.

“We can see in every training session that he has quality, game intelligence and good movements. He is a different kind of player for us.

“We talk about using (Steven) Gerrard deeper sometimes, but maybe in Aquilani we have a player who can play there and pass the ball really well in the final third.”

Liverpool are desperate for a playmaker after Xabi Alonso left last summer, and the sooner that Aquilani can start playing regularly the better for Liverpool, but Benitez will be wary of playing him tomorrow unless they are beating Arsenal comfortably. He is keen to gain a bit of momentum after beating Man Utd on Sunday, and he won’t be taking any chances.

Aquilani himself is relishing the prospect of getting his first game for Liverpool, and seemed to have enjoyed the win over United, although he was only watching from the sidelines.

He said: “It was good to play for the reserves because I haven’t played for a long time, but to play for the first team is something different again and I am looking forward to that,” he said.

“I really want to play, but I need to be patient, I know the time will come for me. I will be happy when I make my debut.

“This is my job, it’s what I am here to do, and I am looking forward to it.”

“It was incredible to be at the stadium on Sunday,”

“It was one of the best games I have seen so far. I don’t normally like to watch a match inside a stadium when I am not playing, but I really enjoyed Sunday.

“When I was in Rome,  although the stadium was bigger, it did not have the same atmosphere as here. Because the fans are closer to the pitch at Anfield, you can feel the atmosphere better.

“It was very important to win against United and hopefully it can give us more confidence.”

“I want to thank all the players and the people at the club because they have been very helpful to me since I arrived here,”

“Obviously as Andrea Dossena is here and speaks Italian, he has helped me, but I want to take the opportunity to thank every player.

“It has been difficult, but now I want to build up my confidence and I hope to bring out the best of my game here.”