James Milner has rejected suggestions that Liverpool are concerned about mounting title pressure after consecutive draws saw their lead at the top of the Premier League reduced.
Disappointing performances against Leicester and West Ham have seen Liverpool’s advantage at the helm cut to three points and Manchester City will take top spot if they beat Everton at Goodison Park tonight.
Amid injury troubles, with Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez all absent from the trip to the London Stadium, some supporters have begun to worry that the Merseyside team are showing signs of cracking as they gear up for a vital period in the battle for the title.
Experienced man James Milner, though, is much more relaxed about the situation, believing that there should be no cause for concern.
Milner said: “Concerned being top of the league in February? No! I’m happy! That’s the key word, clear. We are clear at the top of the league in February.
“Its [talk of pressure] irrelevant really. You take care of your own games. If someone said we’d be three points clear at this stage of the season we’d have taken it.
“There were people saying at the start of the season that Man City are the best team the Premier League has ever seen and stuff like that, so to be just close to them is good for us.”
The former Man City and Aston Villa man has had his fair share of ups and downs throughout a 17-year long professional career and stressed that leading the race league should be enjoyed, not feared.
“Playing for relegation and livelihoods and people’s jobs, that’s pressure,” he said. “Being at the top of the table, we should be enjoying it.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win titles, I’ve been unfortunate enough to get relegated as well. I’ve experienced it, and these are the times you should be enjoying.”
With 13 games still to go, much will still happen between now and the title being decided and Milner was keen to stress that his side can still improve ahead of a crunch set of fixtures between now and the end of March which includes a Champions League double header against Bayern Munich and league fixtures against Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham.
“There’s a long way to go, a lot can happen, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the league lead changes hands a couple of times before the end of the season,” Milner added.
“We’ve just got to take care of our business. The last couple of games, we haven’t played well but we’re still picking up points.
“That’s the positive side, we’re not losing games. There’s plenty we can improve on, which is nice to know.”
