Steven Gerrard is urging team-mates to forget about winning the Barclays Premier League and instead focus on finishing fourth.
Liverpool, who fought-out a goalless draw with third-placed Chelsea on Sunday, are competing with Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa for the last automatic Champions League place. All three of Liverpool’s rivals picked up maximum points over the weekend.
Gerrard said: “There are a lot of teams around us who are in good form and playing well so it’s important that we don’t let our standards drop.
“Chelsea was definitely a big improvement on how we’ve played of late. We looked more solid defensively and I thought we were the better side over the 90 minutes and if anyone was going to win it was us.
“Certain players who have had a bit of criticism of late performed really well and I think it was a good team performance against a side that have been playing very well lately.
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“There are definitely a lot of positives to take out of this game. We controlled the majority of this game and it felt as if we could have snatched it.”
Jamie Carragher, who impressed in the centre of defence at Stamford Bridge, agreed with his captain that the league title was now beyond Liverpool.
He said: “Realistically we’re out of the title race now. Arsenal and Manchester United have set the pace and we now have to show respect to Aston Villa and Manchester City because we are in a right battle to get fourth place with them.”