DIRK KUYT says Liverpool ignored speculation linking manager Rafael Benitez away from the club to record victory over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The Dutchman scored Liverpool’s opening goal in their 2-0 win at Anfield to Benitez’s men to within one point of fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur.

And instead of concerning themselves with talk surrounding their manager’s future, Kuyt says Liverpool are now concentrating on carrying their return to good form into Saturday’s 213th Merseyside battle.

Netting his 49th goal for the club against Bolton, Kuyt insisted the victory has helped to restore some much needed confidence ahead of the Merseyside derby this weekend and their pursuit of fourth place in the Premier League and securing Champions League football for next season.

Kuyt said: “The derby is very important but so are the points. We can’t afford to lose any more points. Every point is vital now and this was a good win for us that will prepare us well for the derby.

“Confidence is really important in the game and we didn’t have that a few weeks ago, but you could see today that as soon as the goals went in our confidence improved. In the end you could see a team with good players creating a lot of chances.

“We’re very happy with the result and another clean sheet, which is very important for us.

“It is getting better and better for us and especially in the last 25 minutes we played the kind of

football we want to play. We want to progress.

“We know we have a lot of quality in the team but in the first half of the season things didn’t go as we wanted, but that is behind us now and we are looking forward at our main target of finishing in the top four.

“It (speculation over Benitez) doesn’t really have an impact on the dressing room to be honest.

“We are just focused on the job. We didn’t beat Wolves so we had to make sure we did the job against Bolton.

“The main thing we spoke about was keeping a clean sheet and that is happening more and more now which is very positive, and we are scoring goals again.

“We can only focus on football. Not on things that go on outside the pitch.

“As far as I know there is no doubt about the manager’s position. I’ve not heard anything from inside the club to suggest there is any trouble or that the manager could leave.

“When results are no good then the players, manager and everyone involved in the team are going to get a bit of stick. Because you are playing for Liverpool Football Club you should always be playing for trophies and you should be challenging for the league, so when things don’t go the way you want it is inevitable you will get criticised and people will talk about things other than football.

“What we have done really well is keep working hard to change things. We have been unlucky with a few injuries but players are coming back now and we are getting stronger.

“We have learned a lot during this period and it has made us stronger.”