Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is refusing to contemplate the possibility of qualifying for Europe despite his team's rise to sixth place after an impressive 3-2 win over Tottenham.
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Inspired by Luis Suarez, Rodgers' side have suddenly hit a rich vein of form and after putting 12 goals past Swansea, Zenit St Petersburg and Wigan, Liverpool fired another three as they came from behind to beat Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday.
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The victory over third-placed Spurs, who had been unbeaten in 12 matches, means Rodgers' men will go to strugglers Southampton on Saturday above of Everton on goal difference and on the heels of Arsenal, who occupy the fifth place that offers Europa League action next season.
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But Rodgers, whose team are seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, said: "I'm not thinking of Europe. We know where we want to be, and we want to be challenging at the top end, but we'll just keep looking at the next game.
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"We are at the business end of the season, it's the time to win games and narrow your focus on that. So we'll focus on Saturday. We'll keep collecting points and see where that takes us.
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"We can play better than we did against Tottenham, but we showed character and resilience in beating a side from the top four. What is important is that we are growing as a group."
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Rodgers is confident that Pepe Reina will recover from a calf injury to return to the side that travels to Hampshire. The Spanish goalkeeper, whose recent form has been a key element to Liverpool's rise up the table, failed a late fitness test and was replaced by Brad Jones against Tottenham.
This is what we expected him to do at a time like this. His team is improving every week