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Alan Stubbs has stoked the fires ahead of next weekend's Merseyside derby by claiming Liverpool have underachieved by not winning the league.

The two old rivals will lock horns next weekend at Goodison Park and there has been no love lost between the two sides in recent years.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez provoked uproar on the blue half of Merseyside last season when he described Everton as a "small club," but Stubbs has aimed a swipe back saying Liverpool should be winning the league with the amount of money they spend in the transfer market.

Rivals

"Of course the derby means as much to Liverpool as it does to Everton," Stubbs told the Mail on Sunday.

"If it doesn't, they have a big old problem. If you're not really that bothered about winning against your local rivals, maybe you should be looking at yourself.

"We don't see ourselves as a small club, not at all. If they feel they are that much bigger than us, they should have been getting better results. Like winning the league.

"When you spend that much money, £40-50 million, you would expect to be closer than they have been.

"That's what Liverpool fans would say if you asked them. We beat them 3-0 - and you don't get a result like that by luck."

Stubbs also questioned Benitez's much-maligned rotation policy suggesting some Liverpool supporters are growing frustrated with the Spaniard.

Disgruntled

"The thing about Liverpool is that I don't know if he (Benitez) has found his best team. I don't know if he has found the balance he's looking for.

"Benitez has done a good job since he arrived but a lot of Liverpool fans are getting disgruntled.

"They want to be challenging but have seen them getting draws at home to teams they think they should be beating because he has been resting players."