Liverpool skipper Gerrard: We will be title challengers

He said: “The league is always your bread and butter as a Liverpool player – and we’re not far away.

“With investment in the summer, and the squad already here staying together, we can promise to push Chelsea and United all the way next year.

“You ask the manager or any of the players and they would say exactly the same thing – we had bigger ambitions for this season than just the Champions League.

“We always had one eye on Europe but we also wanted the league flag flying back at Anfield and felt we were in a good position to have a real go.

“You couldn’t call getting to the last two in the European Cup a failure, far from it when you consider the teams who start out.

“But nothing can take away from the fact that we gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the league after a slow start.”