THE early loss of Sammi Hyypia was a key factor in Liverpool's second defeat in six days according to Rafael Benitez.

Hyypia received a blow to the face from Kevin Davies 10 seconds into Sunday's match at the Reebok.

The collision left the imposing Finnish centre-back with a broken nose, and he had to come off after just 13 minutes.

And Benitez believed that, with Hyypia gone, Liverpool lost a lot of their aerial defensive strength.

"Hyypia is good in the air, and a lot of the game was played in the air," said the Liverpool boss. "We tried to keep the ball and control the situation, but if you are losing, it is very difficult."

But even without Hyypia, Benitez felt that his side were worth a point -- and they may well have gained one had debutant Luis Garcia's second-half strike not been ruled out for offside.

Television replays suggested that Garcia, signed from Barcelona for £6m just over a week ago, may have been level with the last Wanderers defender as he ran on to Steven Gerrard's chip to fire past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Benitez was convinced. "I've seen it on television; it was a goal," he said. "The problem is that we cannot do anything about it now."

It has been a frustrating week for the new Liverpool boss. Progression to the Champions League group stages came despite a 0-1 home defeat against AK Graz on Tuesday night, and they showed little as an attacking force on Sunday after going behind.

"We had three good chances in the first half," he said. "But in the second half, we were trying to fight back against a team that knows how to defend an advantage."

Benitez explained that he had picked a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with Milan Baros as a lone striker, in a bid to avoid being overwhelmed by Wanderers' three-man central midfield.

But he was forced to switch to 4-4-2 in the second half -- bringing on striker Djibril Cisse just days after he was involved in a car crash -- in a bid to chase the game.

Cisse had been fit enough to start, Benitez said, but was named as a substitute because of Liverpool's formation.

"We controlled the ball and we had opportunities in the first half," he said. "But if you don't score, then you need to change things.

"We knew that Bolton would be a physical team, as we had seen three of their games. We knew how the game would go. The problem was that we didn't score.

"I changed the formation because we were losing. It wasn't a problem of numbers in midfield, it was a problem with the movement of the players.

"In the first half we had chances, but in the second half there were few clear opportunities."

Benitez acknowledged that his two debutants -- Garcia and former Real Sociedad midfielder Xabi Alonso -- may need time to adjust to the physical nature of the Premiership.

"I think they played well, but they can play better. They need to know that the referees let a lot more physical contact go here than they do in Spain.

"But we need time to find a powerful team. We need maybe three or four months to find this team."