Winner's medal would be payback time for Bellamy

Bellamy senses he may not be in the starting line-up against AC Milan in Athens on Wednesday, but he will be desperate to at least make the substitutes' bench for the "greatest game of my life."

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Career in the balance: Craig Bellamy wants a Champions League medal on his CV

The Welshman travelled to Athens with the squad today, aware his career at Anfield is in the balance. There is speculation he could be shipped out at the end of the campaign as manager Rafael Benitez's embarks on a summer spending spree with two strikers his priority.

Aston Villa, Blackburn and West Ham are all believed to be in the hunt for the Cardiff-born firebrand, but Bellamy will put all that aside to give everything he can muster to the Liverpool cause.

Bellamy is no stranger to controversy - on the pitch or in his private life. And because of that he is a constant target for the critics.

Bellamy said: "I am just trying to make sure I cement a place at least on the bench. I don't want to be watching from the stands, I just want to be involved, and hopefully lifting the trophy.

"Then it does not matter what anyone has said, or written about me over the years, I will have the biggest trophy of all to bring out now and again to show them."

And as for the constant transfer speculation, Bellamy is dismissive, saying: "If people know my career, they will know how often I have been the subject of transfer speculation.

"It happens to me all the time. I was even supposed to be off in January just a few months after signing for Liverpool.

"I'm used to it. No matter where I have been, whatever club. It was always the same at Newcastle, it was the same at Blackburn and Norwich. And even Celtic. I have always seemingly been about to be off somewhere.

"But I seem to have a contract each season. My missus is happy about that!"

He added: "This has been a very strange season, very up and down. Different to anything I have experienced before. But I knew when I arrived at Liverpool the part I would have to play, but you always want to cement your place in the side.

"That hasn't always been the case. But I cannot moan. Hopefully I have a European Cup final to look forward to. I have had better seasons but never one with something like this at the end of it.

"I hope what I did in Barcelona earlier in the competition will help. But Rafa will have his own ideas, his own game plan. Hopefully I feature and that game in the Nou Camp helps me."

If this is to be Bellamy's last game for Liverpool after one season playing for the club he supported as a boy, he wants to be part of the Anfield history.

He said: "When you are at Liverpool you are always expected to win everything. When I was at Newcastle we were in the tournament to see how far we could get, but at Liverpool you are in it to win it.

"With the history of this club, and the manager we have, it is always realistic to say we can win it. Every player believes we can win this trophy.

"We knew we could beat Barcelona. They left a lot of gaps, and for me as a forward there was always space to play because they are always so attack-minded.

"Our manager knew that. We had seen them play and knew we could cause them problems."

Bellamy continued: "Our history is a benefit. This is not a club trying to win it for the first time, this club has so much history.

"Now I have a chance to be part of that history, part of a team that could become that history. To be mentioned among the names who have achieved so much before, to have won the trophy five times. That is enough to drive anyone on, to be talked about in those terms. I am not daft enough not to realise I will not get a bigger night in my career than this. There is no guarantee I will be involved, but I aim to be in the squad, grasp the opportunity and relish being in such a final.

"It is something I have been working for all my life. All the rehabs I have been through after the string of injuries I have had will be worthwhile if I am involved."