Enrique: You can feel the confidence here
Jose Enrique has noted an upturn in morale and belief around Melwood since Liverpool halted a run of four successive defeats and strung together back-to-back victories.
The Spaniard played for a full 90 minutes as Brendan Rodgers' side claimed their first league win for more than a month by downing Stoke City at Anfield, where Glen Johnson struck the decisive blow in a hard-fought 1-0 win.
Enrique played no part three days later when the Reds travelled to Leicester City and emerged 3-1 winners at the King Power Stadium, courtesy of goals from midfield trio Adam Lallana, Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson.
Up next for Liverpool is Sunderland, a team that bears special significance for the Reds' No.3, who played his first minutes in a Liverpool shirt against the Black Cats at Anfield in August 2011.
That day the spoils were shared after Sebastian Larsson's acrobatics cancelled out Luis Suarez's early opener - but Enrique intends for there to be no such repeat when the sides meet this afternoon.
"My first game for Liverpool was against Sunderland at home," he told Liverpoolfc.com. "I remember it like it was yesterday.
"This month is going to be so important for us because it's going to tell us where we want to be. We have Sunderland now and we really hope that we win this game. And then we have two teams who are fighting for the same thing as us in Manchester United and Arsenal.
"We drew in the Champions League [against Ludogorets] and that has given us the chance to get through [to the knockout phase] and we'll have an important game on Tuesday as well.
"But the most important game right now is Sunderland on Saturday. We're playing at home and I think things with the team have changed. You can see that the confidence is there and hopefully we can keep winning."
Enrique has five appearances to his name this season, starting in the games against Middlesbrough, FC Basel, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke, while taking to the field as a substitute during the 3-0 win over Tottenham in August.
The defender endured a tough time last season, sustaining a knee problem in November, which kept him sidelined until he made his first appearance in nine months during the aforementioned demolition of Spurs.
"I'm just taking it really slowly because of last season and the problem I had," explained Enrique. "I think at the moment, playing one game a week will be good and we'll see how I get on with my fitness and how my knee reacts to it.
"At the moment, it's reacting well. Last season was tough for me, so we are just taking it slowly, little-by-little.
"I think the team is ready to play two games a week. We have a big squad and ass you can see, the manager has been changing the team and the team has been playing well in the last week. We're ready to play two games a week."