Lallana: We won't give up the chase
Adam Lallana insisted he and his teammates won't give up hope of reaching the top four before the end of the season after the midfielder returned in Saturday's draw with West Bromwich Albion.
The Englishman, who had previously been absent with a groin injury, was introduced for the final quarter-hour at the Hawthorns, where the Reds could not find an important winning goal.
Much of the possession was theirs against the Baggies and 22 shots were sent towards Boaz Myhill's net, but Brendan Rodgers' team were stifled and the score remained 0-0 for the duration.
Lallana told Liverpoolfc.com: "I don't remember creating too many clear-cut chances but we put enough pressure on them. It's difficult when they've got 11 men behind the ball.
"We came in at half-time and said we needed to up our tempo and aggression going forward - and I felt we did that in the second half.
"We hit the woodwork and put balls into the box, it just wouldn't fall for us. So we're disappointed. Tony Pulis' teams are well organised and we just didn't have the killer instinct in the final third to get the goal."
The result was a dent to the Reds' objective of eradicating the gap between themselves and the sides currently above them in the Barclays Premier League table.
With just five fixtures left to play in 2014-15, Lallana and the rest of the squad understand that maximum points are imperative to maintain any chance of Champions League qualification.
"We're representing Liverpool Football Club and we go into every game wanting to win," continued the No.20, with Hull City next up on Tuesday night.
"We'll dust ourselves down, go again, go to Hull and try to get three points to hopefully put as much pressure on the teams above us as possible.
"I still feel that if we pick up maximum points from the remaining games, we'll be unlucky not to get into that fourth spot. It's still possible and while it's still possible, we'll keep giving our all.
"We've just got to focus on ourselves. It'll be a difficult place to go - they're still fighting for their lives down at the bottom.
"It will be a tough game, but we've got to go there and play our game and hopefully we'll get three points. You want to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible."
On a personal level, Lallana could take some solace from having been involved in a game for the first time in more than a month yesterday afternoon.
The attacker's maiden campaign on Merseyside has been affected by a number of frustrating injuries, and so he's especially keen to contribute for the run-in.
"It has been stop-start for me," he reflected. "I've been really frustrated. I'd get going and then find myself on the treatment table again.
"I'll be looking to push on towards the end of the season, do as well as I can and get a good pre-season under my belt and crack on again. We've got an important run of games left and I want to be a big part of that.
"I felt fine. It probably gave it that little bit extra, which I needed to as it was a bit of a recurrence. But I felt strong and I've trained for four or five days now. Hopefully I'll get a part to play in the Hull game."