Keane´s monkey´s off his back says Benitez

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez believes Irish international striker Robbie Keane has finally removed “the monkey” from his back and can go on to make an impact on his team's title bid.

Keane scored twice, his first Premiership goals since the 20.3 million-pound summer move from Tottenham, as Liverpool beat West Brom 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday evening and moved three points clear at the top of the table.

He was replaced by Fernando Torres, coming off the bench to play his first game for the club since injuring his hamstring playing for Spain a month ago, but as Liverpool search for their first league title in 19 years, Benitez believes Keane will now show his true worth.

“Robbie said he had a monkey on his back so now he will be okay,” laughed Benitez who also saw Alvaro Arbeloa score in injury-time. “I wanted to support Robbie because he was playing well and working hard for the team.

“But for strikers scoring is always important. Now he will be happier and everybody will be talking about how good he is. If he continues to play well, hopefully he can score more goals and the competition now with Torres will be better for the team.

“Robbie is a player with intelligence and, if he is around the box, he is always a threat for defenders. If he plays with Torres, if he plays with (Dirk) Kuyt, he can be a threat and if a defender makes a mistake, he can be there.”

Keane himself showed obvious relief as he took his season goal tally to four. “It's been a while coming but I knew it was only a matter of time,” said Keane. “I've not got too down about it and hopefully you will now see Robbie Keane back at his best.

“It's been a bit stop-start this season but I've not been counting the time. If I was younger and more naive, I would have let it worry me but when you get older, you get a bit more experienced. Hopefully, there is more to come from me and the team.”

Certainly the return to fitness of Torres suggests Liverpool can maintain what looks like being a serious title bid and the early defeat of Manchester United at Arsenal was greeted with enthusiasm at Anfield.

“I watched part of that game and it was an open game,” said Benitez. “Both teams could have won, it was a good game. We are top of the table and we will try to be there for a long time, get three points in our next game and keep going.

“You could see Fernando's pace today although he didn't have the match fitness he will normally have. He is a threat to defenders when the game is open and he is always a threat to defenders.”

After a difficult defeat at Tottenham and an uninspiring home draw against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, the manner of Liverpool's victory was also the perfect response to the critics who claimed their season was faltering.

“Clearly, it was a response to that,” added Benitez. “Everyone was talking about us having to show character. We have shown character a lot of times this year, we didn't deserve to lose against Tottenham and again today we played well. We scored three and it could have been even better.”

West Brom manager Tony Mowbray remained positive despite the result after his team played well for long periods against one of the league's leading teams.

“Generally we were okay but these aren't the games that will define our season,” said Mowbray. “We can compete with most teams in this league, week in, week out and we're more than holding our own. If you look at the table, there is nothing for us to be concerned about at this stage. We are in touch with everybody we need to be in touch with.”