IN recent weeks, Liverpool’s players have found themselves serenaded by an increasingly familiar ditty from opposing supporters.

This being a family newspaper prevents a faithful recital of the lyrics, so instead imagine how potty-mouthed Didier Drogba would inform Rafael Benitez’s side they aren’t going to win anything.

Those dismissive fans may well prove accurate this season. But the portents are it’s only a matter of time before silverware once again begins returning to the Anfield trophy room.

Steven Gerrard admitted as much last week when asked for his assessment of the future at Liverpool, convinced the team is simply too good not to win the championship in the coming years.

The present, though, remains of primary concern and the skipper netted another two goals at the weekend as Liverpool kept up their pursuit of Manchester United with a surprisingly comfortable victory at West Ham United.

With United winning yesterday’s Manchester derby, the title could be on the way to Old Trafford before Benitez’s side step out in their next game at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

But for now, Liverpool continue to do their job while keeping fingers crossed in the unlikely hope Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Hull City can do them a favour.

Benitez spoke in the build-up to the game of his team having gained the championship mentality, and it’s evident the players have not shirked the responsibility of keeping the pressure on their bitter North West rivals.

As so often under the Spaniard, his team have been primed to peak at the business end of the season.

Liverpool can boast eight wins and a draw from their last nine league outings and have now scored at least three goals in five successive league games for the first time since October 1987.

This latest triumph bore all the hallmarks of a team at the peak of their confidence. Even without midfield linchpin Xabi Alonso, the visitors were rarely troubled by a West Ham side in decent form and chasing European qualification under Gianfranco Zola.

What had appeared the most troublesome fixture of the run-in instead offered another chance for Liverpool to offer a glimpse of their potential.

Rarely forced out of second gear, the visitors simply outclassed their hosts.

West Ham had secured a goalless draw at Anfield in November, one of several dropped home points that Liverpool will inevitably dwell upon if they fall short in their pursuit of United.

But from the moment Gerrard latched on to a precise throughball from Fernando Torres in the second minute to beat the offside trap and skip around goalkeeper Robert Green before side-footing home, the outcome was never in doubt.

Gerrard added a second seven minutes before the interval when, after Luis Boa Morte foolishly tugged back on Torres inside the area, he was quickest to the rebound after Green had produced a fine save from his spot-kick.

It was Liverpool’s 100th goal in all competitions this campaign.

Gerrard now has a career-best 23 goals this season, Saturday’s brace taking him above Ian St John into 12th place in the club’s overall scoring chart.