Liverpool FC boss Rafa Benitez defends tactical changes

But afterwards boss Benitez insisted price tags did not come into his thinking.

"When you have 20 minutes to go you do not think about money, you think about solutions," he declared.

"You might think putting a lot of players into the box is the right way. I think to use wingers with ability and pace can be a solution.

"You have to think about how to win, and the best way today was to use wingers and an offensive midfielder who can pass the ball better.

"In the last minutes, when people are playing with anxiety, you need someone who can pass the ball well.

"That was the idea.

"I wanted to keep Alonso in the middle to try and control the middle because Gerrard was going too high and Lucas is a player who can get into the box really well, and keep the quality in the final pass.

"We had to use people with ability in the wider areas, who could beat players. That was the idea."

It was an idea which did not work, but while Benitez conceded that Keane's confidence might have been damaged by the snub, the players in his squad would have to accept unpopular decisions.

"Everybody had to be disappointed today," he explained.

"We have drawn a game at home that everybody normally would think we were going to win.

"Everybody has to understand and think about the next one.

"The decisions are tactical decisions.

"At a club like this, a top side, all the players know they will have opportunities. Robbie Keane was playing well and working hard the other day and now he knows we were looking for other solutions.

"All the players want to play, that is clear."

Benitez also defended the performance of full-back Andrea Dossena, given a torrid time by Bernard Mendy until injury forced Hull into switching the Frenchman to full-back.

"I think going forward he was really good," said Benitez.

"Two or three times his crosses were very good.

"I thought he played well in the last game. Today his attacking was very good but defensively the team made mistakes.

"You can talk about two or three players who made mistakes, not just one. Everybody is very disappointed but if you want to win titles you have to keep calm."