I'm over my nightmare and will try to pay Liverpool back, says Riise

Riise insists he can bounce back from his injury-time misery in time for the Champions League semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, although he was so distraught after giving Chelsea a 1-1 draw in the first leg that he could not bring himself to speak to his younger brother.

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With first-choice left back Fabio Aurelio out for three weeks, after being carried off with a torn abductor muscle, Liverpool's Norway defender could be in line for a return to the starting line-up on Wednesday.

According to Benitez, it would give him the perfect opportunity to banish the memory of Salomon Kalou's low cross spinning off his forehead and into the roof of the net just seconds from time.

"I have talked with John and told him not to keep thinking about the own goal all the time," said the Liverpool manager. "Fabio is out for the season unless we reach the Champions League Final, so John knows this could be a big chance for him.

"He has to be ready to give everything for us. The best solution would be for him to score at Stamford Bridge, as long as it is at the right end! If he could score the winning goal it would be perfect for him and us."

Though Riise's spectacular long-range shooting has made him a firm favourite with Liverpool followers, he has failed to score for more than a year and is struggling to convince Benitez he is worth another contract.

"He is really down at the moment, but the only way to change the situation is to score in the right net," added Benitez.

"He knows he will get his opportunities and he is ready to step in. He has scored lots of goals over a long time and played a lot of matches for the club, so he didn't deserve something like this. I would have been really disappointed for anyone in that situation but even more so for him.

"He has played so well for us over so many years, so for something like that to happen in the very last seconds was just about as bad as it could get. I still think we could have stopped the cross coming in, but once it did, and John found it heading for his right foot, we had a problem."

Riise stressed he is over the initial shock and ready to try to make amends as he finally opened up on the worst moment of his career.

"I have learned that it is the way you hit back that counts," he said. "Mentally, I am the best. I have got my head back in place, after a heavy night and I'm going to make sure I learn from this.

"I can remember exactly what happened. I decided to stoop to head the ball in the direction it came from. But it was a swerving cross and the ball was wet and it slid right off my forehead. It was a shock to see the ball lying in our net."

Riise, a summer target for Newcastle, insists he has not yet given up hope of landing another deal from Benitez.

"I cannot say for sure I have a future here, when I only have one year left on my contract and have not yet heard anything from the club," he added. "But I hope and believe there might still be a new one for me."

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who has been criticised in Israel for working next Wednesday when Jews remember Holocaust victims, is due to speak at a memorial event at Auschwitz the following day. He leaves for Poland shortly after the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

The match against Liverpool will not be televised in Israel but Grant's father Meir Granat, who saw his parents and five brothers and sisters die in Russia after the family fled from the Nazis, said: "I have no problem with him coaching his team on Holocaust Day.

"On the contrary, there could be no better response to Nazism and anti- Semitism than for a Jew to lead his team through to the Champions League final."