Rafa Benitez has revealed details of how he sent four Liverpool players to Serbia for a “special treatment” that means he could have Albert Riera, Yossi Benayoun, Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio fit for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City.

In a mysterious statement to the press, Benitez told of how during this international break he flew the Reds to Serbia to see a specialist on their muscle injuries.

Riera and Benayoun were expected to be ruled out of action until at least December after pulling their hamstrings in the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Birmingham City last Monday.

But Benitez now hopes to have the players available for selection in tomorrow’s 12.45pm kick-off against Mark Hughes’ side.

He said, “You know people have talked about them going to Serbia for special treatment and that’s true. We had a lot of reports of international players going there, so we sent some players.

“They are now training so we will see if they can play. They have trained for the last two days.

“It has been good. There are other names from different teams who have been doing this treatment for seven years.

“It is a curative program for players with muscle injuries and it works well.”