Lucas relishing Aqua debut

Lucas Leiva admits he is excited at the prospect of Alberto Aquilani making his first start for Liverpool against Fiorentina on Wednesday night.

Rafael Benitez has indicated that his No.4 will make his full debut in the Reds final Champions League match of the season, and having watched the Italian in training at Melwood Lucas believes he can make a difference to the team.

"It is exciting that Alberto is going to get his first chance and we are all looking forward to it - we will give him all the support and respect he needs," said the Brazilian international.

"Hopefully he will do a really good job for us. When you have been out for a long time injured, it's takes a while for you to get your rhythm back.

"But it is easy to see in training that he has got quality on the ball and we hope he is going to help us.

"People will makes comparisons but he is a different player to Xabi; he is more attacking and we can all see that he is going to play in a more advanced role.

"Obviously he came to replace Xabi but he is going to need some time to settle and we will do everything to make that happen quickly."

Meanwhile, the Reds No.21 admitted it was a frustrating day at Ewood Park on Saturday, but claimed the team did all they could to get the three points.

"We went there with confidence and we knew that we could win," he added.

"We had some chances in the second half but we just couldn't score and it's so disappointing.

"We were looking for the win to push on. It was a difficult game and they didn't really have any clear chances and a positive thing is that we kept a clean sheet.

"We are six games unbeaten, too. But, still, we want to be winning games like these and we have to win them soon if we want to get back into the top four.

"We've got a Champions League game now and though we are out, we are determined to get a win to get a little bit more confidence."