Dejan Lovren took plenty of encouragement from Liverpool's defensive organisation and commitment across all areas of the pitch as they overcame Leicester City 1-0 on Boxing Day.
The Reds were considered underdogs with the visitors sat top of the Barclays Premier League table without defeat since September, whilst Jürgen Klopp and co. had not tasted victory in three league games.
But Christian Benteke's second-half effort was enough to give them the three points and restore them to winning ways, in turn ending Leicester's 11-game unbeaten run.
And the back-line were pivotal as they stopped Claudio Ranieri's charges from scoring in a league game for the first time this season, Lovren in particular creditting the work-rate and pressing of his team-mates in the final third.
Centre-half pleased by "great team spirit" shown by Klopp's charges
The Croatian, who returned to the centre of defence to replace the injured Martin Skrtel, insisted that the whole team were "doing a great job" defensively.
He added that Divock Origi, before he was withdrawn through a hamstring injury, as well as Benteke and Roberto Firmino all did a "great defensive job."
The defender said that gave them the foundations to go on and win because they just needed "to wait to score." He also explained that Leicester came into the game having had a "great last couple of games" and had won "against big teams" but said it is "difficult to come to Anfield and get something."
The 26-year-old lauded it as a "massive win" for Liverpool and explained that they "needed the points" because they had "not the best game" in their previous match against Watford.
He praised the performance of all his team-mates and said that "everything" in their game was about "fighting" and they showed a "great team spirit" and were "aggressive" and "attacking" in unison "like a team."
Lovren hopeful Benteke can kick on and add regular goals to his game
But there were some disappointments on the afternoon as Divock Origi added to their injury woes, going off with a hamstring injury before half-time.
Nevertheless, Lovren was pleased with Benteke's impact after coming off the bench to replace his fellow Belgian, as he provided the match-winner for a welcome three points.
He added that the side have "so many quality players" including Origi, Benteke and Daniel Sturridge who is "coming soon" but said it is a "great thing" for his confidene that Benteke scored.
Lovren admitted that he wished Benteke had scored a second late on, wasting an open goal opportunity in the final seconds, but said scoring the winner will act as a "big push" for his confidence and that "hopefully it will continue like this."
Reds confident of picking up points, says Lovren
The Reds' No.6 believes they can now begin to target a consistent run, starting with maximum points from trips to Sunderland and West Ham United, admitting that there was disappointment after recent results.
He added that they need to take "as many points as possible" over the next few games, but insisted they need to "continue to work" because they showed "great team spirit" after having felt a "little bit down" recently.
Lovren said that he, and also "the fans", saw that they have been "together all the time and fighting" - insisting that in some games "you don't need to play so good" rather you just "have to fight" to win.
