Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish feels that the notion of Rafael Benitez having "divided loyalties" upon his return to Anfield tomorrow is wide of the mark.
The Spaniard will be making his first return to the club he left in 2010 when his Chelsea side visit Merseyside on Sunday.
Dalglish admits that the manager who won the 2005 Champions League with the Reds will be afforded a good reception, but says that it will not distract the Spaniard from wanting to win the game.
"Rafa will get a warm reception from the home fans, who still love him for everything he achieved at their club," he wrote in his column in The Mirror.
"When he gets to the ground, I'm sure he will remember all the fantastic times he had there when he was manager. But the idea that, as the Chelsea manager, he will somehow have some divided loyalties is fanciful and misguided. His memories of Liverpool will stay parked at the door when he walks in. He will want to win the match for the Blues.
"For the Liverpool supporters, it will be the same. They will give Rafa a fantastic round of applause, but then they will show the same respect for their own manager [Brendan Rodgers]. When the match begins, they will forget about their affection for Rafa for 90 minutes just as he will be locked in the game, trying to get a win for Chelsea."
Benitez was the Reds boss from 2004 until 2010.
Paul Gorst
