Ryan Babel gave put the Reds ahead with a cool finish in first-half injury-time before a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard and a deflected Sami Hyypia effort gave the scoreline a one-sided look.

The match came little more than 24 hours after co-owner Tom Hicks revealed he and George Gillett had met with Jurgen Klinsmann to discuss the possibility of him replacing the Spaniard.

But Benitez batted off questions about the affair, saying simply: "We weren't really thinking about it because we know it's important to progress in the FA Cup.

"I was not thinking too much about this, I was thinking about the game.

"I'm really happy because we won 5-0 and progressed in the competition."

Of tonight's match, he added on Sky Sports 2: "We knew would be difficult to score the first goal but afterwards it would be an open game.

"We had a lot of chances and they were really hard with a lot of players behind the ball. We were trying to do our job and they were trying to theirs."

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Gerrard hoped tonight's thrashing would refocus attention on to the pitch after this week's controversies.

"It's not just about the hat-trick, the win is the most important thing," he told Sky Sports 2.

"It was important the headlines tomorrow were about football. Every time we've put the TV on we see what's happening off the pitch.

"It's not about the manager, its about the team and progressing into the fourth round. We need to keep winning so the headlines are about the football."

Jamie Carragher was captain for the night as he made his 500th appearance for the Merseysiders.

Asked whether he had ever expected to make the landmark, he added: "I never thought that. Even now I don't look too far ahead. You never know what's around the corner."

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