Toure: How Brendan gives us confidence
Kolo Toure believes Liverpool’s outstanding form this season is testament to the man-management of Brendan Rodgers.
Heading into the final 11 games of the campaign, the Reds sit in fourth place in the Barclays Premier League table, four points off first-place Chelsea and six ahead of Tottenham in fifth.
Toure feels Rodgers deserve much credit for the performances of his side, insisting he has instilled a genuine belief and confidence within the squad.
"We have a great manager here," he told the Liverpool Echo. "He knows what he wants and as a player he gives you confidence.
"Whatever you do, he will always help you. It doesn't matter if you have made some mistakes, he keeps talking to you and keeps believing in you. He's a really intelligent manager.
"Every day the training sessions are always amazing and that can only improve our quality.
"Coming to Liverpool has been amazing for me. When I came here I saw a group of players who were really focused and concentrated.
"I think the manager has done so well - since he came here a lot of things have changed. Teams know that when we play at home we can destroy them.
"At the beginning of the season no-one was expecting us to be where we are now. We just need to enjoy it, give 100 per cent and fight for each other to win games.
"If we work together we can beat any team."
Heading into the final straight, Liverpool are well-placed to achieve their ambitions in this term - and Toure is convinced the squad are mentally strong enough to cope with what's required.
"At this stage of the season there are a lot of nerves and this is when you need to keep calm, believe and concentrate," added the Ivorian.
"I like to help my teammates, I like to be around the team and bring my experience.
"What has impressed me about the young players here is that they are strong mentally. You saw that against Swansea.
"It's unbelievable how hard players like Jordan (Henderson) and Raheem (Sterling) work. Jordan is always helping the team and talking a lot.
"This team has everything. We just need to keep our nerve. We are up there but we know there are some hard games coming up."
Liverpool will head into this weekend's trip to Southampton on the back of a thrilling 4-3 victory over Swansea City at Anfield.
While the Reds' form has been excellent, defensively they are without a clean sheet since the Merseyside derby win over Everton on January 28.
Toure accepts there is a need to tighten up at the back.
"We know we need to control games better than that as a team," he said.
"If you want to be in the top four or win the league, you need to defend well. We are scoring a lot of goals but for sure we need to get a better balance.
"It was a tough game against Swansea. The fact that the other top teams played on Saturday and all won put a bit more pressure on us. The manager spoke to us about that before the game.
"Simon Mignolet made a great save at 3-3 to make the team believe and we went up the other end and scored a fourth.
"The most important thing was that we got the three points. Now we need to go to Southampton and defend well as a team.
"Every player here is so committed. I see that in training every day. Everyone wants to play, everyone wants to win. It's a great group."