Jose: We need rival duo's trait
Jose Enrique believes Liverpool can challenge for the top four next season if they can develop the 'winning mentality' of teams like Chelsea and Manchester United.
Since their dramatic victory over Tottenham on March 10, the Reds have won one, drawn one and lost one in the Barclays Premier League - and now rank seventh in the standings.
Six fixtures remain for the 2012-13 campaign and the Spanish defender insists Brendan Rodgers' side will battle for every available point as they search for form worthy of European qualification.
"Consistency is the difference between us and the top four this year," Enrique told Liverpoolfc.com.
"Consistency is the key to be in the top four in the future - the mentality is the most important thing for the players so if we change to a winning mentality, we're going to be there for sure.
"They say Chelsea are losing games all the time but they are there. They are winning games, maybe not playing well but winning games. Manchester United are the same, they win a lot of games in the last minute. That is consistency.
"Against top teams we have done very well this year but sometimes I don't know what happened against teams that are worse than us. I don't know why we drop our form. Against Southampton, they played much better than us and that's why they won.
"The feeling is that we could do better and win more games, because in some of the last few games we should have done a bit better.
"The Southampton game was key because if we had won that game, it could be different - we could still be fighting for fourth place. That's where we wanted to be from the start.
"Now, of course, it's nearly impossible. We're disappointed with that but we will still try to win as much as we can and try to be in Europe anyway. For next season it's going to be really difficult but we will try until the last game."
With Rodgers' men retaining hopes of securing continental competition for 2013-14 and Reading mired in a relegation battle, Saturday's clash at the Madejski Stadium promises to be competitive.
Enrique believes matches against sides struggling at the bottom of the division are equally as difficult, if not more so, than those with teams in contention for honours.
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The 27-year-old said: "It's going to be a difficult game because they are trying to be in the Premier League next year and sometimes these games are worse than playing against Manchester United.
"They're going to fight from the start because they want to be in the Premier League next year. Every player will have to change our mentality to win the game there because it's going to be difficult.
"Some other clubs are on holiday already because they already have a good position, staying in the division, and they are happy with that.
"You can respect that, but Liverpool is not like that - it's a club that want to be up there. In the next few years, we will try to fight for first place and be in the Champions League.
"We can't be happy with where we are; we will try to finish as high as we can and see what happens next year."