Dare Rafa Benitez play Torres and Gerrard tonight?

International breaks are tricky things. Four weeks ago Liverpool lost Ferndando Torres and Steven Gerrard to short-term injuries - but both need either rest or surgery over the next few weeks to rectify the situation. And although Torres only initially missed two matches he was clearly playing within himself to play 81 minutes (Man United), 63 minutes (Fulham) and 87 minutes (Lyon) subsequently. Gerrard has played for only 25 minutes in the last four weeks but is close to another return for Liverpool tonight.

And that is the tricky part of the equation. If Vicente del Bosque sees, from afar, that Torres has started four consecutive matches (I'm ignoring the League Cup) and played for the majority of each match why would he not want to call up Torres? Although the matches on Saturday and Wednesday are friendlies - the glamour fixture against Argentina (captained by Mascherano) on Saturday could lay down an important marker ahead of the World Cup. Spanish groin specialist, Dr Ramon Cugat, has recommended three weeks of rest for Torres - perhaps missing the Birmingham, Manchester City and Debrecen games - but Benitez may prefer to nurse Torres through, an hour at a time. And if Benitez is happy for him to play an hour against Birmingham, del Bosque may ignore the angry phone call from Liverpool 4 and play him anyway,

For Gerrard the situation is clearer, England play a money-spinner against Brazil, but he will surely miss the trip unless he plays through the full Birmingham game with no obvious discomfort. It is more clear-cut that Gerrard is not match-fit and as he broke down less than half an hour into his last return, two weeks ago, both Liverpool and England will probably be more circumspect about his return. Gerrard is 30 in the spring and his body probably needs a little longer to recover these days in any event.

Both need rest or surgery - but Benitez needs both available to make a victory over an obdurate Birmingham City side more certain. If both were rested tonight then the international managers would almost certainly let them recover from their injuries and by the time Liverpool play again (21 November against Manchester City) both could be all but fully fit.

In an ideal world Benitez would simply rest the pair of them safe in the knowledge that there were players in reserve perfectly capable of seeing off a Birmingham side that has lost four out of five away league games this season. But Benitez is sensitive to the needs of a team that is on a run of just one win in eight including just three league points from the last four games.

It's a tight call, play Torres and Gerrard as it is more likely to result in three points and also more likely to result in international call-ups as well as raising the frightening prospect that one or both could break down and require surgery. Or rest them and risk prolonging a damaging sequence of results.

I would guess that Torres will start and that Gerrard will be a substitute - only to be used in an emergency. But will Torres avoid further damage and will Benitez subsequently be able to persuade the Spanish national side to ignore their best forward player?