RAFA: KEANE WILL SILENCE CRITICS

Rafa Benitez today backed Robbie Keane to silence any critics in the best possible fashion – by scoring goals.

The manager was responding to comments by Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, who claimed to be 'surprised' at the signing of Keane. "It could be (a motivation)," Benitez told reporters ahead of Saturday's north-west derby. "Robbie is a very good professional and wants to score against every team. If he can score tomorrow it will be massive for him and for us. "He is training well and the only thing he needs to do now is score in a few games in a row." Benitez added: "If we're talking about price – their strike partnership is £60million, ours is £40million. "Ferguson was talking about being surprised at us spending £20million for Keane. I was surprised they spent £30million for a lot of players. "They have spent £30million on three or four players over the last few years. "The last game we played against them they had Nani, Hargreaves and Tevez on the bench – we are talking about £70million. "But in terms of quality, our strikers are very good. I am really happy here with the players we have." Benitez is yet to get the better of Ferguson in a league encounter, though his side were comfortable winners over United en route to the 2006 FA Cup final. The Liverpool boss insists he doesn't dwell on personal records but will admit that he would love to mastermind a derby day victory for the Kop. He said: "I want to win against every team, but especially United because of the rivalry between the clubs. I don't see their manager as a rival – I think about United as a rival. "If we win we will have more confidence and it will be better for the rest of the season. "These kind of games against top sides, especially with our position in the table now, can be worth more than three points. "We were better than them in the last two games at home but conceded from set-pieces. You know when you play top teams that they have players with quality and sometimes small things can be the difference. "We were good enough for winning – or at least not losing – but when you play against good players you pay for any mistakes you make." Asked if the run against United plays on his mind, Benitez replied: "Maybe we can change it in the next 24 hours."