Rafael Benitez today insisted he is determined to repay the Liverpool fans for their support this season by leading them to a European final in May.

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The Reds take a break from their pursuit of a top four finish in the Premier League when they resume Europa League battle with Unirea in Bucharest on Thursday night, and Benitez claims that far from the competition being a distraction from the club's main goal this season, it provides the chance for silverware to return to Anfield at the end of a difficult campaign.

"When you win a European competition it is always very important," he said. "Stevie and Carra have that experience, also it is something I know from Valencia.

"If you cannot be in the Champions League, you have to do your best in this tournament and we would love to give a trophy to our fans. We want to do something important.

"We have got to try to keep winning games, doing our best and you never know - we might be able to win the trophy.

"But first we know we are playing a good team. They are well organised, compact and they showed why they did well in the group stages last week."

While Benitez admits he would much rather be competing in the Champions League at this stage of the season, he insists he's proud of the way his players recovered from going out in the group stages of the competition.

"We know it has not been a good season, but all teams go through periods like this," he added. "You just have to carry on, keep working hard and move forward. This is a different and difficult situation but we have to manage.

"The attitude of the players has been fantastic. It was massive to see the way they reacted to going out of the Champions League."

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