Injury Benefits for Stephen Darby

Not, it should hastily be added, that Darby doesn't deserve any playing time he gets. Over the course of a season no reserve team player matches his consistency and dependability. Everyone within the coaching set-up swears by his talent, even though they don't really need to since any claim about his ability would be backed by anyone who has watched the reserves with any degree of regularity these past two seasons.

All that matters is for the one person who really counts to decide that he is a viable option. Rafael Benitez has used Darby with a fair degree of regularity so far this pre-season and that - hopefully - is an indication that he could start making his mark on the side. To say that the defender hasn't disappointed is a massive understatement: ask most supporters who they would prefer given what they've seen in these couple of games and Darby would beat Degen hands down.

His performances have proven that he has the quality to play at the highest level so what's holding him back? Like your average school leaver trying to find a job, he's being asked for the only thing that he doesn't have: experience. It is hard to blame Benitez for his reluctance to adopt someone with such limited knowledge of how to deal with playing in the Premier League especially since he's looking to get his full-backs to push on, something that needs a fair deal of tactical maturity on the part of the player.

Much easier, from his point of view, to go for someone with playing experience , something that he can do with a degree of ease by looking abroad for players. Which is at the root of a much wider problem.

When people argue about the negative influence of foreign players on English football, it is the likes of Darby that should be kept in mind. His isn't a talent that will immediately stick out nor is he someone who tends to opt for the flamboyant option. With him you get exactly what it says on the packaging, dependability and strength, yet he needs time to fully develop all aspects of his game something that, under normal circumstances, he is unlikely to get. More likely is the scenario where he is forced to sit out games by arrivals of doubtful quality - yet, crucially, more experienced - like that of Degen or else make do with a period on loan.

Such skepticism is understandable when seen in the context of the lack of progress registered by the club's youth team players. Not that Benitez wouldn't like to give them an opportunity but rather because the stakes are to high: a bad game or a negative result and the pressure would be on him for taking an unnecessary gamble or failing to improve the squad adequately.

What he needs is for a player to make the break-through, someone towards whom he can point as a success whenever he decides to test out a young player. Nobody questions Arsene Wenger when he signs some unknown from the French league because he has a track record in being proven correct when he makes such decisions, regardless what happens to the player in question.

Then again, Darby could be that first one to emerge for Benitez. After all, it seems that destiny has already been giving him something of a push up the ladder and, whatever else is required, he will make up for through sheer hard work.

To read more of Paul Grech's views of Liverpool FC, visit his blog A Liverpool Thing .