Liverpool face Hull City at the KC Stadium on Tuesday night and Brendan Rodgers has urged his side to pile pressure on fourth-placed Manchester United with a win.
Manchester Uniteda s 3-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday has given Liverpool a glimmer of hope as they look to beat United in the race to Champions League qualification. The Reds are seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United but have a game in hand to overcome that deficit. A win against Hull will help Rodgersa side to reduce the difference to four points with same number of games to play in the season.
a If we can win our games then that will automatically put pressure on the teams above us,a Rodgers said.
a Manchester United have a clear advantage but we can only affect that by winning our games.
a We need to do that starting at Hull. Man United play West Brom at the weekend and wea ve seen how difficult it is to play against Tony Pulisa team.
a We can only focus on ourselves. Last year showed that lots of changes can take place in the final five matches. We have to be prepared to give everything to finish as high as we can.
a We have a tough game away at Hull who had a good win at the weekend, but for us the idea is to go in and get the victory and apply as much pressure as we can to the teams above.a
Daniel Sturridge has been facing fitness issues all season and he will once again miss a game as he recovers from a hip injury. Rodgers is unsure about when the Englishman will be ready to play.
Sturridgea s injury and a lacklustre debut season for both Balotelli and Lambert has hampered Liverpoola s progress this term. Hence, the manager said that it is an issue that needs to be addressed and he will do it come summer.
He said: a It is an area we need to address come the summer again.
a We already have a top class striker here in young Daniel. He is an outstanding player when we have him fit but he needs help as well.
The boss was also full of praise for his players but also confessed that the club wants to keep pushing forward and do better next season.
He said: a Therea s been a whole raft of issues wea ve had to deal with this season.
a When you look back on it, in terms of how the players have done, to overcome all of that and to work the way they have ita s great credit to them. We want to keep pushing forward. Thata s the hunger and ambition, not just from next season but from now on.
a To keep working well, renew the motivation come the summer and look for a big season next year.a