Dalglish gets down to business

After being rewarded with a permanent contract at his beloved Liverpool, manager Kenny Dalglish said his work has only just begun.

Dalglish has been a revelation since assuming the caretaker manager role at Anfield after Roy Hodgson’s sacking in January, and the 60-year-old has now received a permanent three-year contract.

Liverpool has won 10 out of 16 their Premier League games during Dalglish’s tenure, putting them in good position to secure a Europa League, and the manager credited the club’s young players with helping to turn their season around.

“It is always refreshing for a football club to see young players coming through and I think the first team players enjoy seeing the youngsters coming through and training with them,” Dalglish said.

“It gives them a lift. We’ve been delighted with the Academy.”

“When I and my backroom team came in we never set any expectations except to do the best we possibly could in every game. I never set any targets, but obviously we had to improve and we have done.”

“We have not finished the season yet, there are still a couple of games to go and the same principles will apply. We have a game on Sunday that we want to get the most we possibly can out of.”

His permanent role will kick off at home to Tottenham on Sunday with Liverpool looking to cement fifth place with a positive result against the side two points below them in the table.

Last time out Liverpool thrashed Fulham 5-2 with Maxi Rodriguez scoring his second hat-trick in three games, and Dalglish said his players should be recognised for their efforts in the second half of the season.

“It would be nice to beat Tottenham. I think that, without saying we are not going to win, if the players do not get credit for what they have done so far – irrespective of what the next two results are going to be – then I think there is something wrong,” he said.

“They have done fantastically well and have probably gone over everybody’s expectations and so deserve huge credit. In the last two games we will be trying our best to get a positive result.”

Liverpool will be without defenders Martin Kelly (shoulder), Fabio Aurelio (thigh) and Daniel Agger (knee), midfielder Steven Gerrard (groin) and forward Milan Jovanovic (knee).