Dalglish delight at rampant Reds

Kenny Dalglish declared he would be immensely proud of the way his Liverpool side have responded since he took charge, even if they failed to make Europe this season.

The Reds stayed on course for a remarkable top-five finish in the Barclays Premier League after beating Fulham 5-2, even sparking suggestions they could challenge for fourth spot. Despite scoring 13 goals in their last three games, there does not appear to be enough matches left for Liverpool to secure a Champions League place and Dalglish refused to speculate on where they might finish the season.

"I don't know. We'll just wait and see," he said. "I know it's boring and repetitive and we keep saying it, but it's not served us too badly over the years. Even if we don't get fifth, they've been absolutely fantastic. For us, the position hasn't been as important as the response of the players."

He added: "The next one's the most important one, we'll play every game to win it and, at the end of it, we'll add up the points and see where we finish.

"Who would've predicted coming here and winning 5-2? I certainly wouldn't."

Dalglish, who took charge with Liverpool languishing in the bottom half of the table, added: "Nobody would ever have anticipated the run that the boys have been on since January, would they? It's been unbelievable."

For Liverpool to stand any chance of a Champions League spot, they would need Manchester City to suffer a late collapse, starting against Tottenham on Tuesday night.

Dalglish added: "You can only get benefit from other results if you do the business yourself. And as long as we continue to do our business then we can dictate what happens to us. If we get a bonus from someone else, so be it. But we can't do anything about it.

"It's bad enough trying to get ourselves in order."

Dalglish, who revealed Andy Carroll missed Monday night's game with "a bruise" but should be back for Spurs on Sunday, hailed Liverpool's performance as "fantastic".