Gerrard tells Liverpool to keep cool

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has warned his team-mates not to get carried away by their best start to a Premier League campaign.

The Reds are second in the table behind Chelsea on goal difference after winning four times in an unbeaten six-match run.

Rafa Benitez's side underlined their determined to finally end the club's 18-year wait for a league title with a ruthless 2-0 win at Merseyside rivals Everton on Saturday.

But Gerrard has seen plenty of false dawns at Liverpool before and the England midfielder is refusing to let the euphoria around the club distract his squad from the task of extending their impressive start.

“It is important to be humble now and not get carried away,” he said.

“We have got a big game on Wednesday in Europe and then another vital match against Manchester City on Sunday. It is important no-one gets carried away.

“There's a long way to go and we realise how tough it is going to be to still be in the hunt come the end of the campaign, so we need to keep going, but we have set a standard that we need to match week-in, week-out.”

Liverpool have already beaten Manchester United this season but Gerrard wants to see them perform to the level that out-played Everton on a regular basis.

“The victory was probably our best performance of the season,” he said. “We had been winning games but stumbling along, but this has set the standard now and if we can continue that level then we will certainly be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

“We controlled the game all the way through. It was a statement of our intentions.

“We were together, played some terrific football and the performance showed how frustrated we were not to take maximum points from Stoke the previous weekend.”