Dalglish: Focus on Sunday
Kenny Dalglish has urged his players to put thoughts of a mouth-watering FA Cup semi-final clash against rivals Everton to the back of their minds and focus on the task in hand this Sunday.
Namely a trip to St James' Park to face a Newcastle team that are unbeaten on their home turf since December and are eight points clear of the Reds in the Barclays Premier League.
And while fans are already getting excited at the prospect of a Merseyside Wembley outing, the manager knows it's imperative that he and his players focus on what could be a tough trip to Tyneside.
"It was a fantastic result for Everton and they played very well to beat Sunderland," said Dalglish. "I think they thoroughly deserved to go through but that game against them is still two weeks away.
"I suppose somebody has got to be favourite, haven't they? Moyesy doesn't want to be favourites - that doesn't make any difference to us. We'll take it. It doesn't matter what the odds are. All that matters is what happens on the day. It is not a distraction for us.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of conversations about that nearer the time. For us the most important game at this particular moment in time is Newcastle."
The Reds have won 21 out of the 35 meetings between the two clubs in the Barclays Premier League and Dalglish's men were in good form at Anfield in late December when Craig Bellamy and Steven Gerrard fired the Reds to a 3-1 victory.
However, Alan Pardew's side have performed beyond expectations in the league this season and their home form has seen them gain a memorable victory over Manchester United and a couple of hard-fought draws against Arsenal and Tottenham.
"We certainly won't be getting ahead of ourselves," said Dalglish. "We need to prepare to face Newcastle and then we'll take it from there.
"We're all working together to find a solution. They are all working really hard. We analyse it professionally and the players analyse themselves. Their effort and their determination to get it right is second to none.
"All we can do is try our best and hope it will turn for us."