London - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has given full backing to his captain Steven Gerrard, who was charged with assault and affray on Tuesday following an incident in a nightclub.

Gerrard will appear in court on January 23 to answer the charges, which relate to a disturbance in a nightclub just outside Liverpool in the early hours of Monday morning.

The 28-year-old England international returned to training with the rest of the Liverpool side on Wednesday and was greeted by Benitez, who reassured him that he had his full support.

"Steven is our captain and a key player for us, but more than this, I know him as a nice person," Benitez said.

"I sat down with him this morning and had a very good talk with him about the situation and I was also able to speak at length with our club lawyer.

"Steven explained to me what had happened and I told him he has my full support and backing, along with everyone else at the football club.

"He's trained with the other lads this morning after a couple of days off for the squad and is keen now to focus solely on his football.

"We've worked very hard to get into the position we're in going through to the New Year and all of us are determined to keep that progress going.

"We'll do whatever we can to support Steven in the weeks ahead, but we're now concentrating on our preparation for the FA Cup game at Preston this weekend."

Liverpool go into the new year three points clear at the top of the table, chasing their first league title since 1990. (dpa)