Keane focused on trip to Eastlands

Buoyed by his first goal for Liverpool, Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane is looking ahead to Sunday's meeting with Manchester…

Buoyed by his first goal for Liverpool, Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane is looking ahead to Sunday's meeting with Manchester City with confidence but insists he and his team-mates must not get "too cocky" after their unbeaten start to the season.

Eastlands is not a lucky stadium for Liverpool, even if they go there on the back two wins from two in their Champions League group stage campaign, unbeaten in the league and joint top of the table with Chelsea.

The Reds are on a roll but Keane believes the midweek 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven, in which he scored the second, will count for nothing against Robinho and co.

"We don't want to get too cocky yet. It was only the first two games for us in the Champions League, and there are some tough ones still to play," said the Dubliner.

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"But it does set us up nicely and we can concentrate now on Sunday's game at Manchester City and hope that this form and momentum can continue."

It would be fair to say that Liverpool will travel along the M62 on Sunday full of confidence, and with boss Rafael Benitez having been able to rest one of his star players just for the occasion.

Benitez's squad strength has improved so much that he did not need to use fit-again Javier Mascherano against the Dutch side, despite the midfielder having recovered from a calf injury.

Benitez said: "Javier was fit, he was fine. But we had four days between the PSV game and the trip to Manchester City, so I felt the player could be held back for the game on Sunday.

"Everyone was fit, but I knew we had Lucas who could come on and play in midfield. I preferred to think of the next game and keep Javier for that.

"Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard were also both doing fine, so there was no need to use him against PSV, I preferred to keep him back for the games we have to come."

Benitez has no major injury problems for the City game, saying: "Ryan Babel has a minor knock, not serious. And I do not believe that there is much wrong with Fernando Torres, he took a heavy tackle against PSV but he will be fine for the weekend."

The Spanish boss has told Keane he wants him to score his first Premier League goal for the club after opening his account for the club in the Champions League against the Dutch.

He said: "It was really important for Robbie to score. He will now have no pressure and more confidence. He has got his first for the club, but in Europe.

"I would want him now to go out and score his first Premier League goal for us in the next match."