Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel insists his side must remain level-headed after their 2-1 victory over West Ham which kept the title-hopefuls on top of the Premier League standings with five games to go.

“It’s exciting,” the Slovak international told the Liverpool Echo. “This is why you play football – for a season like this. You want to be up there challenging for titles.

“There are still five games to play and we all want to keep going in this way and extend this winning run. We just need to stay focused and keep working.”

However, the Reds centre-back is refusing to get carried away with his side’s chances at League glory, and is well aware of their tough fixture against title rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

“Things are going well but there is still a long way to go,” he said. “We can’t look too far ahead.

“We need to keep going game to game and now our focus is on getting three points against Manchester City.”

City, who won the reverse fixture in December at the Etihad 2-1, are four points behind Liverpool with two games in hand, and Skrtel hopes home-ground advantage will play into his side’s favour.

“We will look forward to that challenge,” said the 29-year-old. “We know the atmosphere created by our fans will be amazing.

“We played well at the Etihad earlier in the season and were very unlucky not to take something from that game. We are going into it in great form and we will be doing everything we can to keep this winning run going.” (kickoffnigeria)