Football: Benitez expects fight night is off agenda for players.

Byline: BY IAN DOYLE

RAFAEL BENITEZ will expect his Liverpool players not to watch Ricky Hatton's fight in the early hours of Sunday morning as his team prepare for a pivotal week in their season.

The Anfield outfit aim to extend their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign when they visit Reading for a 5.15pm kick-off tomorrow evening.

Liverpool's players will not have much time to relax before then travelling to Marseille on Monday morning for their decisive Champions League group game the following night.

And Benitez has advised his squad against joining the millions of sports fans who are staying up until 4am on Sunday morning to watch Hatton take on Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas for the WBC welterweight title.

"It's really important to rest, especially in this situation where we are playing late away and then away again soon after," said the Anfield manager.

"We try to control these things, after the game the players will have dinner and we take care of these things.

Some players need more time than others.

"I don't think the players will be staying up to watch the fight. They have DVDs now to entertain themselves!"

Benitez, meanwhile, remains confident that onloan midfielder Javier Mascherano will make a permanent move to Anfield during next month's transfer window.

A pounds 17million deal is in place to sign the Argentina international, who arrived in January on an 18-month loan.

The recent confusion over Liverpool's immediate transfer strategy has led to speculation linking Mascherano with other clubs, Manchester City joining Barcelona and Juventus as potential suitors.

But Benitez believes the player's heart is set on staying on Merseyside and is hopeful of an agreement being signed in the coming weeks.

"Everybody knows that Mascherano is an important player for us," he said. "He is settled here, the supporters want him, so everybody wants to do the deal and finish the rumours.

"He's told me before that he wants to stay, that is very, very clear. We have had a lot of conversations and he always says he is really pleased here, happy in the town, the supporters are really good with him, the family is okay, so there are a lot of positive things. Now we just have to finish it."

The complicated third-party ownership of Mascherano's playing rights has led to fears the player may be being touted to other clubs against his wishes, but Benitez added: "Whether he moves depends on him and us. It's not out of our control."

Benitez expects Jamie Carragher to be fit for tomorrow's trip to the Madejski Stadium and confirmed that Fabio Aurelio, Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger have all returned to training.

CAPTION(S):

Boxer Ricky Hatton