Stephen Gerrard should be given a rest by England Coach Sven Goran Eriksson in the World Cup warm-up friendly against Uruguay according to Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.

With a fit Gerrard being a certainty for the England in the World Cup in June, Benitez feels that the influential midfielder should be given a rest ahead of Liverpool’s frantic domestic and Champions League fixture schedule.

Gerrard played his forty-sixth match of the season for Liverpool in their 1-0 win against Manchester City at Anfield today, and will play his forty-seventh in the same stadium on Wednesday if, as expected, he is in the England team for the friendly against Uruguay

Benitez has made these comments in the hope that Sven-Goran Eriksson will consider the 25-year-old's wellbeing. But as Eriksson has already said that he intends to field as strong a team as possible against Uruguay, Benitez is worried Gerrard may get fatigue.

Benitez said: “I don't want to give Eriksson advice because he is experienced and he knows, but he must think about it. He must say, ‘I know this is a key player for us and maybe I don't need him playing two games every week.’ If you want to have your squad at their best at the end of the season, maybe you need to rest some of them now. You don't need to see some players every time. It is best to think about what is best for them. The manager [Eriksson] must use this analysis.”

Gerrard started last Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League defeat against Benfica on the substitutes' bench after suffering a dead leg that had improved sufficiently for him to play in the 1-0 win over Manchester City today, but his workload for the next 10 days is demanding.

With the England match on Wednesday and a Premiership game against Charlton next weekend, before the second Champions League match against Benfica the following week mean that Gerrard has no time for recuperation to any niggling injuries.

The two men who are able to cover for Gerrard, Boudewijn Zenden and Mohammed Sissoko in midfield for Liverpool are both out for the rest of the season due to injury, and have made it impossible for Rafa Benitez to even contemplate easing Gerrard's workload.

Maybe the slight knock that Gerrard picked up against City will mean that he gets a rest on Wednesday against Uruguay.

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