Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is setting his side a high target, after insisting that the Reds can still replicate their second placed finish from last season.

The Reds took a huge three points against Swansea City on Monday to move them just four points away from 2nd-placed Manchester City, with top-four challengers Manchester United and Arsenal next to play.

The Northern Irishman's side are unbeaten in 2015, winning eight of their last nine league games, and confidence is clearly high in the Liverpool camp.

“We’ve put ourselves in a great position,” Rodgers said after his side won their fifth successive Premier League game in South Wales.

“We want to finish as high as we can and everyone talks about fourth, but it’s the same every year.

“We’ll do the best we can and Manchester City’s result at the weekend gives us an opportunity to finish second.

“We’ve got to use the mentality, run and confidence we’ve got, take that into every game and see where it takes us.

"We've clawed our way slowly back into it. We knew it was going to take time being so many points behind, but to get back to this level of consistency is very, very impressive.

"We've still got a lot of work to do, but we're on the right pathway."

Despite the fact that Rodgers' side were not at their scintillating best on Monday, relying on Simon Mignolet to keep them level on numerous occasions in the first-half, the Liverpool boss said that he was just happy to come away with the threep oints.

"I'm proud whichever way [we win]," he continued. "We work very hard first and foremost on how we defend.

"It's not just about the style, you have to have a foundation and the foundation for that is how we press the game.

"You can see whenever the team isn't quite pressing how we want then it becomes a little bit broken, like it was in the first half.

"We pressed the game and shortened the pitch much more in the second half. We got the goal and had opportunities to get a few more.

"We know that we have the capacity to win games. Our away record over the last two years is really strong.

"You see the resilience in the team and when we're not playing so well, we've still got that organisation and resolve to keep a clean sheet.

"In the second half we were much more fluent in our passing and movement. We played the most part of the game in their half. We didn't have too many scares in the second half.

"It's a great victory, it's a difficult place to come here and we're very happy."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard made a sizable contribution, coming off of the bench as Rodgers switched to a diamond-shaped midfield to help gain a control of the game. The Northern Irishman added how the switch was vital for the Reds to gain a foothold and eventually grind out a victory.

Rodgers said: "What we did in the second half was run more without the ball, that notion for the team that you've got to move not just when you have the ball, you've got to run off it.

"We talked at half-time about penetrating and options for the guy in possession. Steven came on and offered that calmness.

"We switched to the diamond in the second half. He came in and fitted into the bottom of that. His calmness and control was very important in that."

"You have to pay respect to the team. They've been playing very, very well and getting results. Collectively over the last three months we've been in great form.

"But, of course, Steven has been out for a considerable period of time. He's fit [now] and you saw him in the game today how important he is when he came on."

Liverpool now sit in fifth-place with the three teams above them all two, three and four points ahead. With only nine games left, the race for Champions League qualification is heating up, and Rodgers said that his side can approach a monumental clash against Manchester United with confidence this weekend.

"We can now really look forward to that," he said. "Tonight, whatever, we needed a result - so to get the victory was a huge result for us.

"At home, we look forward to going into this game - they're massive games, great games to be involved in.

"Hopefully, it'll show the strides we've made since we played them a number of months back. For that, I have to give immense credit to the team."