Reina plays down title chances

Rafa Benitez's side have endured a faltering start to their Premier League campaign, losing to both Tottenham and Aston Villa in their opening four games.

The Liverpool keeper believes they must go back to basics and concentrate on the here and now, and forget about any title hopes until April at the earliest.

He said in the Daily Mail: "Something is clearly going wrong. It is not very common for Liverpool to lose two games out of four, so we have to look at that.

"The team that we have now is the team that we have, and maybe it is time to be realistic and not think about the title but just to think about winning the next game.

No sense
"After April, we can think about where we are, but it makes no sense to put ourselves under this pressure of winning titles.

"We are almost the same team as last season, but the best way to do it is by going step by step, game by game."

Span international Reina also beli! eves Liverpool are still coming to terms with the loss of influential midfielder Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid over the summer.

Asked if the club were suffering a hangover from his compatriot's exit, he replied: "Yes, that is a fair assessment, because Xabi is a great player and it is no secret that for us he was our best player last season.

"But he wanted to go and the club decided to sell him.'"


No discord
The team's poor start has led some to speculate about unrest in the camp but Reina insists there is no discord behind the scenes.

He said: "It is a competitive dressing room. There are no bad feelings in there at all, I can guarantee that.

"The thing is that we have to be friends on the pitch for 90 minutes and, after that, the mood in the dressing room becomes good."

But Kop favourite Jamie Carragher is still dreaming of title success and hopes he can lift the trophy before he retires.

The 30-year-old defender said: "It is at the back of my mind! that I may not be around long enough, but, to be fair, Rafa can't be thinking, 'I have to win the league for Carra'.

"He is doing it for the club and building for future seasons. I'm sure we will get there in the end, either with or without me.

"I would love to do it, but winning titles is important for this club, not just me, and I have been lucky with what I have already won."