Football: League finale to mark beginning of Reds rebuild; Liverpool v Charlton Athletic Anfield, tomorrow, kick-off 3pm Benitez looks for Premiership improvement.

Byline: CHRIS BASCOMBF

RAFA BENITEZ'S end of term report card will include bold ticks in some areas but black crosses in others.

There's no escaping the Premiership season has ended with whimper, as yet again cup competitions rush to the assistance of a league campaign which was in need of first aid from the turn of the year.

While Liverpool's home form has been formidable despite a last minute defeat against Manchester United, on their travels familiar failings returned.

They never truly recovered from an unimpressive start last August after making the critical error of playing catch up to the leaders yet again.

And although several of the year's new faces, such as Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano and, to a lesser extent, Jermaine Pennant promise to be astute purchases, others were unable to lift the overall quality of the side and are likely to move on during the summer.

As he reflected on the last eight months ahead of tomorrow's visit of Charlton, Benitez accepted the mixed verdict.

Not surprisingly, he's accentuating the positives, but his consistent message of the need to add to the overall quality of the squad before next season underlines there is no-one more aware than the manager of where Liverpool's shortcomings are.

"At home I think the season has been fantastic," said Benitez.

"We've lost just once and that was in the last minute against Manchester United in a game we didn't deserve to lose. Away from home? Okay, we know this is the area we need to improve.

"The beginning of the season was particularly bad for us. We had a lot of problems due to a number of factors, our form wasn't good and it seemed all our most difficult away games came at the wrong time for us right at the beginning.

"When we began the season we were sure we had the possibility of being closer to the top two, and at some moments it looked like it would be possible. Perhaps we can look back over the season and say mentally we were still not ready to catch them, but all of us know what we have to do to improve.

"The idea next season will be to build on the good things we have done and also show the same away form we did two years ago. There are not many things we need to change at home, but when we play away we will need to show the same qualities we did when we first introduced players like Crouch, Sissoko and Reina into the team."

Although Liverpool's points tally compares unfavourably to their total of 82 last season, a win today would at least ensure Benitez's side hits the 70 point mark for a second successive year.

It would be only the third time in eleven seasons a Liverpool team has reached this landmark.

Benitez's predecessor Gerard Houllier only went beyond 70 points once during his six seasons at Anfield.

He secured second spot in 2002 with a tally of 80, while Roy Evans passed the 70 point barrier twice during his period in the hot seat.

In the 16 seasons since Kenny Dalglish won the championship, Liverpool have managed to hit the 70 mark on just five occasions.

Benitez, however, has his sights on much more significant milestones in the future.

"When we managed to get 82 points last season it was a record for the Premiership for the club, but the winners had 91 points," he said.

"To win the Premiership next season we must be thinking of well beyond 80 points and probably as much as 90. That's the target for us."

The manager has already taken some meaningful steps with his wheeling and dealing with Lucas Leiva and Sebastian Leto already secured while Robbie Fowler and Jerzy Dudek will be released, with Bolo Zenden likely to follow after the Champions League final.

"I'm not thinking of how many players we bring in during the summer, but the identity of these players is more important," said Benitez.

"We have agreements in place, but we know we need to keep working. It's the quality which matters more than the quantity. The spine of the team is there, but if we keep signing good players just two or three can make all the difference.

"I would like two players for each position."

Fowler gets the opportunity to bid an emotional farewell, but a groin injury looks to have sabotaged Dudek's hopes of an appearance.

Rookie keeper Daniel Padelli is in line for his Liverpool debut as Pepe Reina is rested to protect his shoulder injury.

Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Dirk Kuyt all expect to feature in some capacity as they're handed match practice prior to the training camp in Spain next week.

Momo Sissoko is absent with a knee injury.

Red Menace

DARREN BENT: The Addicks' leading scorer has been linked with a move to Liverpool and is certain to leave the Valley this summer, and could be looking to impress at Anfield. Not to be confused with less than free-scoring namesake Marcus.

REF WATCH & DISCIPLINE

Dermot Gallagher

So far this season Mr Gallagher has taken charge of 13 league games, issuing 29 yellow and 3 red cards. This will be his first Liverpool match of the season and it will also be his last ever match as a professional referee as he will hang up his whistle and retire from the game after this match. He has been something of a lucky omen for Charlton this season though as they have won two of the three games he has taken charge of. He refereed the 2-0 win over Newcastle, booking Faye and the 1-0 win over Bolton in round three of the Carling Cup. The only other Addicks match he has refereed this season was the 2-3 defeat at Wigan in November.

CAPTION(S):

END OF AN ERA: Robbie Fowler will play his last match for Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow; HIGH POINT: Defeating Chelsea on penalties in the Champions League semi-final capped a memorable season for the Reds