Publications
Partners
London - Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez insists he is willing to shake hands with Leeds United boss Neil Warnock at Wednesday's League Cup quarter-final in a bid to end their simmering feud.
Benitez has clashed with Warnock on several occasions in the past, with the most high-profile incident coming in 2007 when the Spaniard sent out a weakened Liverpool team against Fulham.
Fulham went on to beat Liverpool and in the process pushed Sheffield United, then managed by Warnock, closer to eventual relegation from the English Premier League.
Warnock said that he would "never forgive" Benitez and he poured more fuel on the fire this week when he revealed the pair's last contact came shortly after that incident when he received an e-mail from the Spaniard's lawyers warning of possible legal action were he to continue to criticise their client.
But with their latest touchline showdown looming on Wednesday, Benitez tried to draw a line under the issue at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Asked if he would shake hands with Warnock ahead of the match, Benitez said: "I'm professional so will do my job. I'm professional, I will behave."
Warnock also seems keen to move on, although he stopped short of agreeing to a pre-match handshake.
"Enough water's passed under the bridge," Warnock said. "It's one of those things that disappoints you in life and you have to get on with it really.
"You get disappointments in every walk of life and I've made my feelings clear over the last few years - and nothing will change that.
"I think it (the e-mail) had his name on, I think it was his solicitor (lawyer) who was threatening legal action and I've got it in a scrapbook at home."
