Virgil van Dijk has told anyone who doesn't believe Liverpool can catch Manchester City to "better stay home" - and admits he has not yet fully recovered from his serious knee injury.
Van Dijk opened the scoring as the Reds beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leaders City to nine points with a game in hand.
Liverpool remain in contention on four fronts having won through to the Carabao Cup final, the FA Cup fourth round and the Champions League knockout stages.
And Van Dijk is convinced Jurgen Klopp's side - who have now only lost twice in 43 games in all competitions - can push City all the way.
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"If you look above us, obviously Manchester City has been incredible, they're a fantastic team and they've been doing so well, so it's going to be a tough task for us to catch them," said the Holland international.
"But there's no point in this phase of the season to look too much at others. We have full focus on ourselves and that's what we will do.
"If anyone wouldn't believe then they better stay home, in my opinion. There's so many points still to collect, there's so many games to play, there's so many cups that we're involved in. Anything can happen.
"We just give it a very good go with everything that we have. Also, there will be moments in games where we have a lot of difficulties – what is absolutely normal – and then we also need our support, and I'm not worried about that either."
In five games this month without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane due to Africa Cup of Nations commitments, seven different players have found the net for Liverpool.
Van Dijk's bullet header at Selhurst Park was only his second goal of the season and just a fifth contributed by a defender out of 89 scored so far this campaign by the Reds.
And of the backline looking to add to their goal tally, the centre-back said to liverpoolfc.com: "You have the responsibility even when they are on the pitch. Everyone has to contribute towards three points.
"In my case and the defenders' case, let's say the centre-backs' case, we are a big part of set-pieces and we have to try to do our best in that and score and contribute for the team.
"But we also have a responsibility to not concede goals. Every time we have (that responsibility), it doesn't matter who is on the pitch.
"I don't think you do anything different, in my opinion, than what you normally do. I think that responsibility is always there and always the case."
Van Dijk has started 26 times for Liverpool this season since returning from the serious knee injury that sidelined him for more than nine months.
And the 30-year-old believes his condition is still continuing to improve as he returns to the level he achieved before the setback.
"I can be proud of where I am today," he said to Amazon Prime. "The amount of games I've played so far, and obviously things can improve like it should be, but I'm very proud of myself in this case, and of the people around me that helped me to where I am today.
"I am still improving and the knee is still improving. That's absolutely normal. Everyone who knows about knee injuries knows it will take time. Everyone who sees other players with knee injuries knows it takes time.
"I keep working, keep improving, keep enjoying of course and play the games as good as I can.
"I'm happy with the performances so far and hopefully they can lead to success as well with the whole team."
