GLEN JOHNSON is adamant Liverpool earned their derby day luck – but accepts they now have to make the most of it.

Despite being outplayed for much of the game, Rafael Benitez’s side earned a 2-0 victory in the 212th Merseyside derby at Goodison on Sunday.

It was the Anfield outfit’s first Premier League triumph in more than a month and moved them up to fifth place, two points off the Champions League qualification places.

What had been a run of two wins in 12 has now become a five-game unbeaten run ahead of another demanding away game at Blackburn Rovers this coming Saturday.

And while admitting their fortune was in with Javier Mascherano’s deflected opener at Goodison, Johnson acknowledges it will count for nothing if Liverpool fail to capitalise on a morale-boosting victory.

“The derby win might end up being the turning point of our season, I don’t see why not,” said Johnson. “We have a platform to build upon.

“You maybe can’t read all that much into just one goal, but with the first goal against Everton, it’s the first time we’ve had a little bit of luck in a while.

“The lads are working as hard as they can all week, so maybe they deserve that luck. Now it’s up to us to make the most of it.”

Johnson was part of a defence that kept a successive clean sheet for the first time this season, with Liverpool having won 1-0 against Debrecen in the Champions League last week.

And he said: “We’ve got two clean sheets in a row so hopefully we can push on now.

“We know that we haven’t been picking up the results that people associated with this club expect but there is no better place to start picking up points than Goodison.

“We want to get on a good run now. The next game is all that we can worry about but we want to be pushing up the table and hopefully this will be the start.”