Liverpool lost captain Gerrard early in the
game with a hamstring injury and is almost certainly out of
England's friendly next Wednesday against Spain in
Seville.
A dejected Rafael Benitez said: "Steven was tired, and
he gets injured. He was tired, too, at Wigan but when I took him
off there everyone was saying he had to play every single minute of
every match. Now you have seen the consequences.
"He asked to be taken off, you could see at Wigan he
was struggling and the same thing happened here."
A defeat compounded by Gerrard's injury was made all
the worse for Liverpool by their finishing with 10 men after
Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva was sent off in the second half of
normal time.
Benitez said: "We are really disappointed, to play for
a long time with 10 men and to concede like that from a deflection
at the end, you have to be disappointed.
"The turning point of the game was the second yellow
card for Lucas, I was not happy, but I do not want to say anything
about the referee."
On the extra-time defeat, he said: "It's very negative
to be out the Cup, we have to concentrate on the league and the
Champions League. They are massive competitions and we are in very
good shape."
"I didn't want to go out of the FA Cup," added Benitez.
"I have to be disappointed with the way we have lost, but we still
have the league and the Champions League this season. We are still
in a very good position."
