Henderson keen for more of the same

The 23-year-old played his part in the 2-1 win at West Ham on Sunday that took Brendan Rodgers' side back to the top of the table as captain Steven Gerrard converted a penalty in either half to see off the Hammers.

Now Henderson just wants the team to keep up with their recent performances which has seen them string together an impressive run of nine consecutive wins, with fellow title contenders Manchester City the visitors to Anfield on Sunday.

"We are really high on confidence," he said.

"We have just got to keep working and training. We need to keep working hard and, as the cliche goes, then just take each game as it comes and keep doing what we are doing. We need to keep going out there and putting on good performances."

The potentially pivotal victory in east London came despite neither of Liverpool's in-form forwards finding the back of the net.

Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge have 49 league goals between them this season but Henderson believes the rest of the Liverpool squad is capable of stepping up.

When asked if the win was a sign of good team-work, the England international replied: "Yes it was. We have all been working really hard as a team all season.

"We have been working really, really well - Luis did brilliantly for the first goal and for the second one, Lucas puts a great ball in for (Jon) Flanagan.

"Overall we have to be delighted with the three points and our performance. We could have had a few more to be fair but, on the other hand, we dealt with the set-plays and the aerial threat really well throughout the game."

Skipper Gerrard, who took his tally of Premier League goals to 13 for the season with his brace, was also quick to praise the returning Lucas, who was introduced at half-time by Rodgers.

"Lucas came on and deserves a special mention," he told liverpoolfc.com.

"I think there was a lot of pressure on him, the Brazil coach was there to watch him, he hasn't played much of late but he has worked his socks off to get fit.

"The ball he played for the second goal, people have been raving about [Philippe] Coutinho all year and the passes he has made and for me that was right up there with Brazil's best and it helped up get the win.

"I think it shows what we have got in this squad now. We have got a bit of everything, a bit of class and skill in Suarez, Sturridge and Coutinho but we have got some steel, we have got some lads who want to roll their sleeves up and dig in."

West Ham put up a solid fight against their title-chasing opponents and levelled through Guy Demel's first Hammers' goal in first-half injury time.

Having won six of their last nine heading into the clash, Sam Allardyce's side are all-but safe from the relegation battle and Ivory Coast international Demel is now looking forward to a trip to Arsenal next week.

"It won't be easy to play Arsenal now," he said.

"But it's the Premier League and I have never played an easy game, it's going to be tough, of course, we're playing against the big boys, but right now we find ourselves in a good spot, on a good path and we're going to try to do our best.

"We have momentum. The last two games were really important for us, so now I think, mentally, we're still focused, but we're playing with less pressure and you can see, when there's less pressure on our shoulders, how we keep the ball and play."