Kelly: Forget Wembley talk

The next couple of months will be packed full of exciting, if testing, fixtures for the Reds with the prospect of cup glory at the end of it all.

However, Kelly maintains that whilst it's easy to get carried away, especially after Wednesday's semi-final win at the Etihad stadium, the best thing for the team is simply to focus on the task in hand.

"It's vital to take each game at a time and concentrate on the next match, which is Stoke," said Kelly.

"We'll concentrate on Saturday now and not look elsewhere until the time comes. It's an exciting time this month because there are a lot of games crammed in and so there's going to be a lot of chances.

"There's a big squad, so you've got to be patient for a chance."

Kelly was one of six Liverpool defenders who finished the game on the pitch against Manchester City on Wednesday night having fought tirelessly to maintain Liverpool's one-goal advantage.

He said: "We were delighted with the win but now we're looking forward to the second leg and trying to progress.

"We've got the game at Anfield which we know is in our favour if we get the crowd behind us."

 "It was an overall good team performance and when we did get the goal we defended well. I think that, especially in the first half, we were by far the better side. We had most of the possession.

"Second half we did drop off a bit and people were getting tired, so it was good to keep hold of that 1-0 lead and we'll take that into the home game.

"We brought Carra on as a midfielder, and we had Johno put out at right back with three centre-halves. We were looking to keep the 1-0 win.

"With how big the pitch is at Man City you start to get tired and that's when they start breaking teams down. They couldn't break us down yesterday."

Victory at the Etihad means the Reds have won away at City, Arsenal and twice at Stamford Bridge so far this season and Kelly believes that, when in form, this Liverpool are capable of beating anyone.

He said: "It shows that no matter where we go, we know that we're capable of winning. Whoever we're playing, we are Liverpool football Club - it should be them who are scared of us.

"We've got the quality throughout our side to beat anyone and on our day we do that.

"We've been frustrated at times at home with the draws but that can happen against teams that come here and sit-off and look to play for the draw. It can sometimes be harder for us to win those games.

"But we've done really well away from home against the big sides."

As for Saturday, Kelly knows that Liverpool face a difficult challenge in their opponents Stoke.

Tony Pulis' side are eighth in the Barclay's Premier League and have won three of their last four away Premier League games.

They also beat Liverpool at the Britannia in September of last year when a Jonathan Walters penalty helped the home side to a 1-0 victory.

"I think if you ask anyone about Stoke, they'll say they are a tough team to play against," said Kelly.

"If we do what we're good at and get the ball down, play our football and do what we practise in training, we should get the result.

"But with Stoke, they're a big side and they'll come here and be physical and it'll be a tough game.

"Any game in the premiership nowadays is a tough game so we won't take anything for granted as we try and get the result."

Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is likely to feature at Anfield on Saturday after he scored both goals in Stoke's 2-1 victory away to Blackburn on January 2.

But Kelly says that whilst Crouch is a "danger", Liverpool won't be worrying too much about Stoke's tactics, choosing rather to focus on their own game.

He said: "[Crouch] is good in the air and he's good with his feet as well so we'll have to be wary of him when he comes here but I think we've just got to try and let Stoke worry about us because we're at home.

"We'll be the ones trying to play football and show the crowd what we've been doing in training and try to put that into the game."

"We've got a great team spirit and the training has been fantastic - hats off to the coaches who are organising great sessions for us. All the lads are raring to go to put what we do out there into a game.

"At a club, what you need is all the team to be together through the ups and the downs. That's how you make a squad and we're doing that at the moment.

"We're all looking forward to the next game."