Rafa ready to run Goodison gauntlet

Rafael Benitez has been bracing himself for a hot reception at Everton on Sunday despite refusing to repeat his small-club jibe ahead of his first match on Merseyside as Chelsea boss.

Interim Blues manager Benitez will take a team to Goodison Park this weekend for the first time in more than three years but the passage of time is unlikely to spare him the role of pantomime villain.

Everton fans devised plenty of unpleasant chants about Benitez during his six years in charge of Liverpool and he said: "I don't think they will be supporting me the whole time but the main thing for me is that my players do their job."

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