After Rafa Benitez left stars like Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt on the bench for Liverpool's dramatic 3-2 victory at Portmsouth last week, he endured some pretty harsh criticism.

However, the Reds' Brazilian midfielder, Fabio Aurelio, usually deployed as a left-back or left-sided midfielder but selected by Benitez to play in central midfield against Pompey, feels that fans should show more patience, and understand that Benitez is trying to do what is required for the team.

"The boss had problems in Spain, too, with people saying he makes too many changes," Aurelio told The Liverpool Echo today.

"But he is just the same now. I have been with him a long time so I know his methods are like that. He always does what is best for the team.

"He has a personality which doesnt mind what people think, which is good for the team."

The Brazilian, who was managed by Benitez whilst at Valencia, also believes that Liverpool are still very much in the hunt for the league title, despite many observers seemingly feeling that Manchester United have as good as made it theirs already.

"We can fight for the title, and we can win the title. If we do then the boss will be the best coach ever. But if he doesnt people will try to say it is because of squad rotation," Aurelio added.

"The results in football are always the important thing and we got a good result at Portsmouth. We were very happy with the result.

"People dont understand the changes that he made, but he knows how the players are feeling. He knows who is tired and who is not, and he knows how to use his squad.

"We know when he selects his team for a game, it will be the best players at that moment to do the job. We are with him.

"If we had lost the game it would have been a terrible two weeks to be here, with no game. But we did a job and won the game and put ourselves in a very good position."

Aurelio also expressed some bemusement as to why the focus was always on the changes made by Benitez, when the managers of other so called 'big teams' tweak their line-ups with comparable frequency.

"It is the same with the other big teams. They all have big squads with good players, so I dont understand it," he added.

"We are in a good position in the title race and are in a good position in the Champions League as well, so maybe its people trying to find weak points to try to stop us or create trouble. But we are used to it.

"We had our job to do and we had to be focused on that and not what people were talking about."