Rafael Benitez, undermined by his employers and with his team under-achieving on the pitch, conceded yesterday he is enduring his most difficult period as Liverpool manager as Dubai International Capital (DIC) prepared to renew their bid to buy the club from George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

One week after the refinancing deal that looked to have secured the Americans' Anfield tenure Gillett has still to endorse his business partner's plans for the club or state, as Hicks has done, that his 50 per cent stake in Liverpool is not for sale.

Their ownership of the club will attract fresh protest from supporters at this evening's home game against Sunderland and the apparently fractured relationship has bolstered DIC's confidence that they can finally take control. The investment arm of the Dubai government has spent the past week studying the €465 million refinancing loan and it is believed a formal offer to Gillett and Hicks could be submitted within the next seven days. Hicks, however, will not even consider walking away without a substantial profit on the table.

It is against this continued instability that Liverpool will, against Sunderland, seek their first league win since St Stephen's Day, with their manager admitting the stoppage-time penalty defeat at West Ham on Wednesday left him with "the worst feeling" of an already arduous campaign.

Liverpool languish seventh in the Premier League, on points as close to Roy Keane's strugglers as they are to Manchester United and Arsenal, and Benitez admits failure to meet pre-season expectations of a title challenge has taken its toll.

"The expectations were different this year but everything has been more difficult," he said. "It is clear the situation is different to when I arrived. In the first season I wanted to give the people something in the Premier League and it was very disappointing to finish fifth, but we won the Champions League. In the second we won the FA Cup and last season we reached the Champions League final again. This has been difficult because the expectations were different but I have to stay positive and I think we can change things by winning games."

Benitez remains adamant that off-field problems will not force him to reconsider his position at the club and, despite this season's disappointments in the league, the Spaniard insists he can claim the club's elusive 19th title.

"If I thought it was impossible then maybe I could look at other options," he added. "But I'm not thinking about that. I think we can win titles and win the Premier League - not this year, it would be almost impossible, but in the future. Liverpool is a town of fighters and I will fight. I will try to do my best in every game and during the rest of my time here, which may be 10 years."

Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson has placed Wayne Rooney under strict instructions to curtail his roaming instincts and stick to playing as a more orthodox centre forward.

Rooney has scored only three goals since November and Ferguson is alarmed by the chances that have been squandered in Manchester United's recent matches.

While Rooney's profligacy could not be said to have affected the team during a run of six wins, Ferguson is troubled by the frequency with which the striker is popping up in different areas of the pitch.

"Wayne worked too hard on Wednesday," said the United manager, referring to the 2-0 defeat of Portsmouth. "That cost him the opportunity to get goals. He got involved in a lot of the build-up play and we said to him after the game that he didn't need to expend so much energy dropping back into midfield all the time."

Rooney has managed 10 goals this season, which puts him as the club's third highest scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 27, and Carlos Tevez, on 13. However, six of Rooney's goals came in a spell of five games in October.

"Don't worry, he'll be banging them in soon," Ferguson said. "Wayne has got such a wonderful appetite for the game. I just wish every player had the same appetite and desire to play."

United go to Tottenham today with Ferguson believing his team might have to go unbeaten for the rest of the season to win the league. "Chelsea have done it in the past and so have Arsenal, so we're taking nothing for granted. Maybe we'll have to do it because it's getting really tight now."

With four points separating the top three clubs, Ferguson has been keeping a close eye on the African Cup of Nations. "We all become selfish and I'm hoping it's an Ivory Coast versus Ghana final to keep the Arsenal and Chelsea players occupied. It's no use kidding - Avram Grant and Arsene Wenger know fine well what I'm hoping for. In fact, I hope it goes to extra-time, penalties and maybe even a replay."

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