Carra sees pros in no Europe
Jamie Carragher believes the absence of European football next term could help Liverpool's push to breach the top four.
The 33-year-old was as eager as anyone to secure a Europa League spot but it wasn't to be after the Reds lost their final two games of 2010-11 to Tottenham and Aston Villa.
Instead it was a sixth-place finish for the resurgent Merseysiders, who had collected just 25 points from 20 games when Kenny Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson in January.
Despite the upturn in fortunes since the Scot returned, the Reds are facing a first campaign without European football since 1999-2000.
Carragher reflected: "We would rather have got in the Europa League but it's not happened and we have to look at the positives.
"The main thing for us next season is getting back into the Champions League. Not being in Europe will give us a better chance of doing that. We want to get back in the top four and do well in the cups.
"Playing Thursdays and Sundays isn't ideal so there's a flip side to not being involved."
Liverpool were 12th when they parted company with Hodgson, just four points above the drop zone.
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Carragher added: "It's gone well since the manager came in and we have got plenty to be positive about. When Kenny came in we would have bitten someone's hand off to finish sixth.
"Sixth is an achievement from where we were. We wouldn't have accepted it at the start of the season but we would in January.
"But of course it's not been a great season for Liverpool as we didn't win anything and next season we'll be looking to improve and finish higher."