Downing on goals, form and semi
Stewart Downing is confident he can add to his goal tally before the end of the season – but insists he'd be more than happy not to find the net again in 2011-12 as long as Liverpool enjoy a successful conclusion to the campaign.
The England winger has scored twice for the Reds since moving from Aston Villa, most recently against Stoke City in which he fired the winner in a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory.
Downing, however, is still waiting for his first Barclays Premier League goal for the club as Liverpool prepare to head to Newcastle United this weekend.
And while the former north-east native admits he'd take great satisfaction from finding the target at the Sports Direct Arena, goals are not his main concern.
"I'm confident I can get more goals, I've just got to keep getting into the right positions and creating," Downing told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"I've been a bit unlucky at times hitting the crossbar and the post, but I'll never give up. If you keep getting in the positions, you'll get your bit of luck. I did that against Stoke, got a bit of luck and got a goal. Hopefully I'll get a few more before the end of the season.
"It'd be very nice to get it (first Premier League goal for Liverpool) in the north east, especially if we won the game, but the most important thing for me is the team playing well and getting the points.
"I've always said, if I get a goal it's a bonus. It's never been a big thing of mine to say, 'I need to score this amount of goals' but if I do get one against Newcastle, it will be pleasing."
Eight games remain for Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League this season, while there's also an FA Cup semi-final with Everton at Wembley to be contested.
Downing is hoping to maintain what he believes to be his most consistent run of performances for the Reds in those games and finish his maiden season at Anfield strongly.
The 27-year-old said: "In the last month, it's probably been the most consistent form I've had. I've quite enjoyed that and long may it continue because we've got some big games coming up and we need the players ready to play.
"I'm no different - I want to be in the team and playing well. Hopefully my form continues because we've got the Euros at the end of the season and I'm trying to get into that squad, so a good finish would help."
Meanwhile, Downing admits the FA Cup semi-final clash with Everton will be an occasion to savour - but stressed Liverpool are firmly focused on the three league games they'll play before returning to Wembley.
The Blues beat Sunderland on Tuesday night to set up a last-four meeting with the Reds at Wembley.
Downing said: "I could see it coming. I watched the start of their game against Sunderland and I thought they were going to win. They started well and were right up for it. It's going to be a tough game for us.
"I know we've beaten them twice in the league, but it counts for nothing in the semi-final. It's a one-off game on a big pitch on a big occasion, so we've got to be ready for it. We've got the experience of having already played there and hopefully that will help us. I'm confident we can beat them again."
Liverpool will face Newcastle, Aston Villa and Blackburn before returning to Wembley - and Downing insists there will be no semi-final distraction.
He said: "I think we did it well last time for the Carling Cup final - we put it to the back of our minds and went into it in a good bit of form. The lads responded quite well to that, and this is no different.
"I know it's Everton, but it's another game, it's already in the bag so let it be, concentrate on our league form. Going into the semi-final in a good run of form helps, and we've got three games to put that right.
"We'll build momentum as we did before. We got a great result against Brighton and it allowed us to take a lot of confidence into the final and we won.
"These are winnable games, but we have to go out there and do that because there have been a lot of winnable games we've lost out on this season. It's easier said than done but I'm confident we can get results."