“It is difficult. We know that we have to win and we have to turn the draws that we had last season into wins. Sometimes it will be into a defeat but most of the time it will be into a win.”

Reina is confident the weekend triumph over their bitter rivals can be a “turning point” and praised the contribution of the vociferous home support.

“Against United we were the better team and we deserved that win so hopefully it can be a turning point for us and give us the confidence that we need to do better,” added the Spaniard.

“We are a team with character. Sometimes we do not play well but the character is always there, mainly because of our fantastic supporters who are with us during every single second.

“We should win because of them but also because of ourselves. We have been in a difficult situation and this meant that we had to show our character, which we did on Sunday.

“We are six points behind the leaders and it will be a long, long race. It will be tough for everybody. There aren’t just four teams involved in the title race, there are at least six or seven in it, which is good for the competition.”

Meanwhile, Damien Plessis, who made his eighth appearance for the club last night, has signed an extension to his current Liverpool contract that will keep him at Anfield until 2012.