Steven Gerrard has told team-mates and fans to forget about winning the Premier League title and concentrate on finishing fourth.
Liverpool had to settle for a point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on
Sunday in a disappointing goalless draw.
Liverpool's failure to turn their first-half dominance into goals meant they
failed to overcome the Blues but Gerrard admitted the focus must now shift away
from the title for another year.
The Reds are 16 points behind leaders Arsenal and Gerrard said: 'We realise
now that we're facing a big challenge to finish in the top four and we've got to
forget about the title and focus on fighting for fourth place.
'There are a lot of teams around us who are in good form and playing well so
it's important that we don't let our standards drop.
'Chelsea was definitely a big improvement on how we've played of late. We
looked more solid defensively and I thought we were the better side over the 90
minutes and if anyone was going to win it was us.
'Certain players who have had a bit of criticism of late performed really
well and I think it was a good team performance against a side that have been
playing very well lately.
'There are definitely a lot of positives to take out of this game. We
controlled the majority of this game and it felt as if we could have snatched
it.'
Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa all picked up three points over the
weekend that meant Liverpool lost further ground in the race for fourth place.
But the Liverpool captain was more than happy with the performance apart from
the cutting edge in attack.
He said: 'When we do go to those places we've got to perform like we did
yesterday and maybe an extra five or 10% could see us nick a win.
'I just thought we lacked that cutting edge in the final third but I can't
fault many other things because it was a good performance.
'I don't think you could fault any player. A couple of days before the game I
said you need every player performing close to the maximum and I think we got
that.'
England striker Peter Crouch, who missed a gilt-edged first-half chance to
give Liverpool the lead against Chelsea, admitted they should have scored for
the first time at Stamford Bridge under Rafael Benitez's reign.
Crouch said: 'A couple of half-chances came my way, and maybe the one on my
left foot could have been better. If I hit the target then I think it would have
gone in.
'It was a good battle. We matched them and in the end we were the better
side.
'We are still a way behind at the top, but we proved today that we'll keep
going until the end.'
Former England defender Jamie Carragher was also impressive at the centre of
Liverpool's defence but he echoed Gerrard's view that the title race was over
for another season.
He said: 'We shaded the game and maybe could have nicked it, so I'm a little
disappointed because we had a couple of chances.
'Realistically we're out of the title race now. Arsenal and Manchester United
have set the pace and we now have to show respect to Aston Villa and Manchester
City because we are in a right battle to get fourth place with them.'
