Graphic: PSV Eindhoven v Liverpool I Analysis: Tony Cascarino

Rafael Benítez has ruled out the prospect of selling Robbie Keane in January after the out-of-form - and out-of-favour - Liverpool striker was linked with a return to Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend. But the manager also left Keane under no illusions that it is he, and he alone, who must drag himself out of a rut that, for the moment at least, appears to be consuming him.

An unused substitute in the 3-1 win against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday that kept Liverpool top of the Barclays Premier League, Keane is expected to return to the line of fire away to PSV Eindhoven in their final Champions League group D game this evening. However, it is more out of necessity than an urge on Benítez's behalf to start a player who cannot argue that he has not been given a fair crack of the whip this season.

Injuries have robbed the manager of Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt, the latter of whom did not travel with the squad to the Netherlands yesterday after damaging a hamstring against Blackburn, leaving Keane as the most likely candidate to lead an attack that, however blunt, should still prove too strong for a PSV team struggling in a weak Eredivisie, let alone in Europe.

Liverpool have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stage with Atlético Madrid but will top the group should they win and the Spanish team lose or draw against Marseilles in France. If the teams finish level on points, first place will be decided by goal difference, then goals scored and if the sides still cannot be separated, by coefficient ranking, Liverpool's being far superior to that of Atlético. That said, Benítez is mindful that finishing top will not necessarily guarantee an easier draw in the last 16.

It was in the reverse fixture against PSV at Anfield in October that Keane, who cost a projected £20.3million in the summer, scored his first Liverpool goal in his eleventh game for the club and he will hope that the opposition prove similarly kind to him tonight.

“We don't want to sell Robbie,” Benítez said. “I was surprised when someone said about the rumours [about his future]. We are not thinking about selling [him].”

Keane has managed only two goals in his past eight matches, although such statistics tell only half the story. In his defence, he has clearly suffered from not having a regular strike partner alongside him - Torres's near-permanent presence on the sidelines through injury has put paid to that - but the Ireland striker has often been his own worst enemy, dropping too deep and, inadvertently, encroaching on the space occupied by Steven Gerrard, or spinning out to the left too often and hampering Albert Riera.

His confidence has not been helped either by Benítez's apparent compulsion for withdrawing him in matches - Keane was substituted for the fifteenth time in 18 starts at home to West Ham United last week - but the Liverpool manager is adamant that there is only one person who can combat the demons circling in Keane's head: the player himself.

“It is not always easy at the beginning [when a player joins a new club] and when someone moves to a top side it is even more difficult, but he [Keane] has quality and he is working hard so it is not a problem,” Benítez said. “He'll be thinking, ‘I want to play, I need to play.' But I think he knows we have confidence in him, even if he also knows he is not playing at the level he can do. You can't give a player with his experience too many messages. He knows he has to perform.”

With qualification assured, Benítez could take the opportunity to involve some of his fringe players. Diego Cavalieri may start in goal in place of José Manuel Reina while Lucas Leiva should fill in for Javier Mascherano, who is struggling with a dead leg. All eyes, though, will be on Keane.