Belief in Liverpool's long-term project will not be dented if the club fail to achieve a top-four finish this season, manager Jürgen Klopp has said.

The Reds are currently well placed to qualify for the Champions League next term, sitting fourth in the Premier League table - though face a tough final nine games of the campaign.

Although top-four rivals Arsenal have faltered in recent weeks, bitter rivals Manchester United are only four points behind Klopp and co. with two games in hand.

Merseyside neighbours Everton are also only six points behind, and can cut the gap to two when the two sides face off in the derby at Anfield immediately after the international break on April 1.

Yet Klopp - speaking after Liverpool drew 1-1 with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon when a win would have lifted them above the Citizens and into third - insists that confidence remains high.

The German said that Liverpool "are still in a battle" and that the City performance is "a really important sign" that they "can already do this", although he admitted they "have to improve."

Klopp felt that the draw against City shows that they "have to improve" but warned that they also "have to improve" in "all of the other games."

"I know a lot of reasons why we couldn't and, as I said, it's a long-term project and if I wake up every morning and think, 'Oh my god, we lost the points there and there', it wouldn't make it better, so I don't do it," he continued.

Reds focused on the future, says Klopp

Klopp said he is "really focused on the moment" and insisted he is only thinking "about the future", with the rest done "with the analysis."

He acknowledged that Liverpool's staff and playing squad have "spoken already about all the games" where they "lost them and all that stuff" - noting that "four points, five points, six points matters" but said it is not allowed "to think like this."

Klopp added: "The next game is against Everton, they have come from behind [in the league table] and it is quite impressive, so it is not only a derby, it's another very important game."

He said that they will send their first-team internationals "all over the world to their national teams" and that they will "hopefully" return to Melwood "healthy" and then Liverpool "will go again."

The Reds boss suggested that the club's problem is that usually a draw at City is "really positive" but that on this occasion "it is not because it means we could have done better in the other games."

"In a few of them, yes, but not in all of them because of different reasons," Klopp acknowledged, insisting that the "one outstanding side" this season, Chelsea, who he says have been "an outstanding and consistent side" will "be champions probably."

He said that the Blues' success would be "well deserved" and that then "all the rest [of the teams at the top of the table] fight with all they have for the Champions League", stating that Liverpool "are one of these sides and that's good."

Klopp said that if Liverpool achieve a top-four finish then it would be "a success" and continued: "If we don't do it, we will be disappointed, but we would not stop working and would not stop believing in this project. We are really convinced about the circumstances we have and we want to use it."

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.