Kewell made his first competitive appearance of the season since sustaining a foot injury in last year's World Cup when he appeared with 13 minutes to go at Craven Cottage in a match Liverpool lost 1-0 to struggling Fulham.

The Australia winger looked in good condition and Benitez will give him Sunday's outing against Charlton to prove he is ready for the European showdown with AC Milan on May 23.

If he is given the nod in Athens, Kewell will be hoping for better luck than 2005 when he was selected ahead of in-form holding midfielder Dietmar Hamann.

Milan entered half-time 3-0 up with the 28-year-old limping off with a groin injury after 22 minutes before Liverpool staged a stunning comeback to win on penalties.

Benitez said: "It was positive to see Harry again. We will look him during what's left of the season and maybe he will have a chance for the final.

"If Harry plays well this week or at the weekend we will see what happens. We will have the time for testing him.

"We need to test him because right now you could say physically that he is fit but he really needs to play, to tackle, to sprint and to get back to where he was."

Benitez made nine changes against Fulham to give the side that edged Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night a rest, but may restore the likes of captain Steven Gerrard for the Addicks clash.

And the Spaniard insists his team selection for the AC Milan rematch will see some big name casualties if he deems it necessary.

He said: "My idea is to use the players that we have, maybe with the same or a mix, against Charlton.

"I'm not worried about names. I am always trying to analyse my team, the best players for each game.

"In the last game people were speaking about Xabi, saying 'oh, Xabi Alonso is not playing against Chelsea'.

"I need to use the players that I have in my squad. Against Fulham you could see different players.

"Having names doesn't mean you will win. The names will win if they are top-class and work hard on the pitch. The name itself means nothing."

Benitez may have fielded his second string against Fulham but they should still have been out of sight at half-time.

Robbie Fowler missed a glorious chance while Craig Bellamy was frustrated by goalkeeper Antti Niemi all afternoon.

For once, Fulham were able to give a lesson in finishing with Clint Dempsey combining superbly with Liam Rosenior to open his account for the club following his £1.5million move from New England Revolution in January.

It was virtually the only chance the Cottagers had and Dempsey, 24, kept a cool head to seal the three points that have all but ended the club's relegation fears.

Michael Brown's first-half head-butt on Xabi Alonso, which left the Spanish midfielder with a bloody nose and went unpunished, was the only cloud hanging over Fulham's escape act.

Caretaker-boss Lawrie Sanchez has now accumulated four points from his four games in charge and the Northern Ireland coach declared his mission had been accomplished.

He said: "I could have quite easily said I wouldn't come here. Why put my reputation on the line?

"I have built up quite a good reputation over the last three years. Why put that reputation on the line for five games at a team that had one win in 15 games?

"But managers are strange people - we do put ourselves on the line for it. If we had lost, people would have said it hasn't worked. But we won so it has worked and I was the right man.

"That is what we do and I have been very fortunate that when push has come to shove my teams, or myself when I was playing, have delivered.

"That is what management is about, making a team deliver when it has to."

REF'S REPORT: Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was furious with the officials for missing Michael Brown's head-butt on Xabi Alonso and rightly so. Referee Steve Bennett, his assistants and the fourth official all missed the incident which should have resulted in a straight red card for the Fulham skipper.

FUSSY FACTOR: Bennett generally had a tidy game, keeping interruptions to a minimum.