Rafael Benitez today admitted he wasn't prepared to lose Stephen Warnock in his bid to bring Lucas Neill to Anfield.

The Reds' boss was hoping to agree a deal with Blackburn Rovers to bring Neill to Liverpool before the transfer window closed last night.

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes was keen to sign Warnock as part of the deal but Benitez wasn't happy to sacrifice his defender, even though he knew he was short for cover at right back with Jan Kromkamp having left for PSV Eindhoven earlier in the day.

'It was disappointing. We tried but in the end the situation was impossible,' explained Benitez.

'Blackburn wanted to sign Warnock, but we made it clear we wanted to keep the player.'