THE FACT it was unsociably hot and the ninth day of July didn't matter one jot to the hordes who'd travelled across the border on Saturday. All they cared about was the presence of a certain number eight shirt.

  Barely a week ago outside Anfield, that same number eight shirt was being burned in anger, the flames warming the chilled hearts of supporters who, so it seemed, had been dismally betrayed.

  A small-hour re-think, and the subsequent about-turn, meant Steven Gerrard could run out at the Racecourse Ground wearing that same number eight shirt.

  The tumultuous reception granted to him by both sets of fans probably had him wondering what on earth he'd been thinking of.

  That reception must have been quite a reassurance to the skip-per - few players who vent so public a desire to leave are welcomed so warmly back into the fold.

  It's a credit to Gerrard's PR exercise since last Wednesday, and the open and self-critical fashion he has explained himself, that the skipper was able to so vociferously be proved the exception to that rule.

  But there's no doubting his still conciliatory tone - and his emboldened desire to deliver yet more for his loyal support.

  "It was great to get the shirt back on and hopefully in the coming season I can hit top form and deliver a trophy," he said.

  "Hopefully I can go on and win that medal that I'm craving for, which is the Premiership, because that's the one I'm missing.

  "Hopefully it will be this year, but if not it will happen in the four years that I've signed for."

He added: "I feel as though I've made the right decision. It doesn't need me to say how tough it's been - you've seen it all yourself and what's been said in the papers with all the contract situation.

  "It hasn't been good. I enjoy playing football but I haven't enjoyed all the stuff that has been happening over the past week.

  "I want to put it all behind me now and forget about it. I want to concentrate on my football and winning more trophies for this football club and never being in that situation again."

  Now is the time to look to the future, as Gerrard is so eager to do himself, even if Saturday's friendly did begin with a quick glance back at the immediate past as Jamie Carragher joined him in hoisting the Champions League trophy once more.

  And that future, moreover, is increasingly looking up.

  Chief among the reasons for Gerrard's uncertainty had report-edly been the standard of player being targeted by Rafael Benitez in the transfer market.

  But judging by the quality of effectively two sides that the Spaniard could field on Saturday - shorn at last of the likes of Biscan, Smicer, Diao et al - things are hardly at a critical stage yet.

  Bolo Zenden is an intelligent acquisition that will provide the versatility Benitez so admires.

  Jose Reina gives the goalkeeping department the kind of depth it so patently lacked whenever Jerzy Dudek had one of his 'moments'.

  More players are imminently expected - Luis Figo to Peter Crouch and everything in between - but whoever arrives, Benitez must surely now have the personnel to mount a more serious domestic challenge.

  Confidence on the big stage is surely not an issue now.

  Certainly the manager seemed in buoyant mood on Saturday after what he ironically described as a "fantastic week for us".

  "We signed two new players, Gerrard and Carragher," he said.. "And we also have Jose Reina, Bolo Zenden and (Mohamed) Sissoko. So we have a better team than a week ago.

  "I don't like to talk about the past, but for us now the most important thing is to think about the next game and to talk about the future.

  "Last season we had many players injured, but now with all the players fit and players like Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia with more experience in the Premiership.

  "So if you have good players and Steven Gerrard, one of the best midfield players in the world, it will be difficult for the other team."

  Friendlies, particularly those held when the first coin is yet to be tossed on a summer Ashes tour, can be notoriously boring affairs as players run off weary legs and struggle for sharpness.

Wednesday's looming Champions League opener against TNS has dictated something of a speededup recovery from their summer sojourns, however, and, with Ken McKenna's League of Wales champions watching on from the stands, Saturday's workout needed to be taken relatively seriously.

  And with the sun beating down, it was. Benitez started with six of the squad that triumphed in Istanbul, and the sellout crowd were afforded an entertaining afternoon. Wrexham's early goal probably helped proceedings, as even given the time of year, the new Champions of Europe did not really want to begin their latest campaign with defeat to the champions of LDV Vans.

  Of the starters, only Stephen Warnock made it through the full 90 minutes while Steve Finnan lasted an hour.

Reina and the impressive Zenden were both included from the first whistle, with the Spanish goalkeeper beaten after just eight minutes by a cool-headed 21-year-old local called Mark Jones. Welcome to English football.

  Fernando Morientes and Milan Baros could perhaps take most from their afternoon's work, converting two well-taken goals apiece.

  Baros's second, a volley from Xabi Alonso's loft, was the pick of the day's action.

  For Morientes, the sight of the European Cup must have again triggered mixed feelings given his inability to play any part in that extraordinary journey last season.

  The stop-start season that resulted for the Spaniard undoubtedly contributed to his difficult first half-season on Merseyside - but manager Benitez

  has high hopes for the striker over the coming campaign.

  "He's almost like a new sign-ing," he said..

  "Last season he wasn't training for three or four months, so it was difficult when he came in because the pace here is higher than it is in Spain. Here it is more physical, too.

  "People say all the time that football is the same in all the countries, but it's not true.

  "Some players need four, five, six months to adjust.

  "He can play in the Champions League which is good news for us and I hope he can score more goals for us in the league."

  By David Prior at The Racecourse, Daily Post

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