Crouch has had to share starting opportunities with Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy this season with Robbie Fowler featuring occasionally under Rafael Benitez.

And while Crouch stopped short of criticising the Spanish coach, he admitted it is difficult being in and out of the team.

He said: "It has been a bit frustrating lately being on the bench.

"But it is one of those things. I think at the start of the season there were a couple of games I missed out on and then you go and play four in a row.

"The manager likes to chop and change things a bit and you have just got to be ready for it when you are called upon.

"When I have been called upon I have done quite well and I just need to keep that going.

"When I have played this season I have got goals. Towards the start of the season I was getting on and getting a good run for my country as well. So when I do play I get goals and it is the same with the other lads as well."

Crouch, who has scored 13 goals in all competitions, added: "I have got five in the Champions League already and I would like to keep that going when called upon in the next round. It is a fantastic competition and to get a good tally is a big bonus for me.

"At times it is difficult because as a player you want to be out there playing every game and giving it all for your team.

"But we have got a big squad and a lot of games in the competitions and you need to have fresh legs. That is the way the managers sees it and you can't complain with the results we have been getting."

And the former Portsmouth striker knows scoring goals is the only way to secure his future.

"As a striker you need to score goals and for me personally I do want to go on a goalscoring run and I am sure I will."

The club's top scorer this season accepts he is as vulnerable as anyone else as Benitez considers how to spend the anticipated big transfer budget, with the takeover by US sports moguls George Gillett and Tom Hicks on the brink of total completion.

Benitez knows he must sign a 20-goal a season striker, as well as Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin - who will move to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season on a Bosman free transfer.

There is a major doubt over whether veteran Robbie Fowler will still be at the club next season - but it is widely accepted Benitez will want to buy a top European striker to give Liverpool the chance of competing for the Barclays Premiership title.

The possibility of such a spending spree is not lost on Crouch, who is currently recovering from an operation on his broken nose which will sideline him until the beginning of next month.

Crouch said: "There's a lot of speculation about what might happen in the summer but you just have to accept it as part of being at a big club like Liverpool.

"It will be tougher to get in the team and nobody's place will be certain.

"It means you will have to work as hard as possible to keep your place. That does not bother me. The fact that the manager will be looking to strengthen the squad can only be good news."

Crouch, who could be back in time for Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final with PSV Eindhoven next month, is certainly out of England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Isreal and Andorra on March 24 and 28.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have allowed 18-year-old reserve centre-back Godwin Antwi to join Accrington on loan.

Antwi, Ghana-born but qualified for Spain, joined Liverpool from Real Zaragoza in the summer of 2005, and was a key figure in the club's FA Youth Cup final victory over Manchester City last season.

Liverpool want the 13-stone defender to have some Football League experience and have allowed him to help Accrington's battle to avoid relegation from League Two.

Midfielder Danny Guthrie hopes to extend his loan spell at Southampton until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old midfielder, who began a month's stay with the promotion-chasing Coca-Cola Championship side last week, said: "Southampton are a massive club who belong in the Premiership.

"When I got the call asking me if I wanted to come, it took me only two minutes to say yes."