WHILE Steven Gerrard’s claims that Liverpool have turned a corner may be true in part, a fairer reflection might be that for every step forward, they take half a step back.

Daniel Agger adds some clarity to the notion when he mentions the hard work ahead for his side.

Hard work is exactly what Rafael Benitez’s team have made of the season thus far.

Last week’s morale boosting win over Tottenham at Anfield was said to have blown the battle for fourth place wide open.

Instead, on the same night that Spurs reinstated their claims on the final Champions League place with a 2-0 win over Fulham this week, Liverpool lurched into fifth by way of a thoroughly forgettable goalless draw at Wolves.

Aston Villa’s stalemate with Arsenal on Wednesday night handed Liverpool a reprieve as the closest team to Tottenham until the weekend at least.

However, with Manchester City on the same number of points as the Anfield club – but crucially with two games in hand – Agger hits the nail on the head when he says Liverpool have got a long way to go to fulfil what have become limited ambitions this season.

“It’s a really tough challenge this year,” said the Denmark international.

“There are more teams competing than normally. We have a lot of work to do if we want to finish in the top four. But that’s our aim.

“I think things are starting to turn for us. We have to keep winning because there is a lot more work to do.

After the Champions League exit and then a 2-0 defeat to basement club Portsmouth, Liverpool’s season hit an all time low when they were dumped out of the FA Cup at Anfield by Championship strugglers Reading a fortnight ago.

Since then, though, an unfortunate draw at Stoke prior to the comfortable win over Tottenham have provided signs to back up Gerrard’s belief that better days lie ahead.

Agger supports his captain’s thoughts and will be hoping the midweek non-entity at Molineux was only a temporary digression to the kind of form that has landed the team in the mire so far.