James Milner has told Liverpool to "suck it up" amid mounting injury problems in their bid to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.
The Reds were without Jordan Henderson (foot), Adam Lallana (thigh) and Sadio Mane (knee) - who will miss the rest of the campaign - for last weekend's 2-1 win over Stoke City, while Philippe Coutinho (illness) and Roberto Firmino (knock) came off the substitutes' bench to score the goals that secured the comeback victory.
Liverpool are fourth in the table and six points clear of rivals Manchester United, but the Red Devils have two games in hand over Jurgen Klopp's men.
However, Milner says Liverpool cannot use injuries as an excuse in their efforts to qualify for next season's Champions League and urged his team-mates to dig deep for the remainder of the campaign.
"The treatment table is a busy place at the moment, unfortunately," Milner told the club's official website.
"The Brazilian lads are carrying injuries, Phil being ill the other night, we had not seen him for two days and he comes on against Stoke and does that. Roberto is struggling.
"It was a good job it was not windy because I think Phil would have blown away, he lost a lot of weight! I am buzzing for him, it is fantastic, it shows what a big player for us he is and his desire to come and do that after a tough 48 hours.
"We have injuries all over the place, it is that time of the year and you just have to suck it up and keep going. The desire and heart from the squad is always there. We just need that consistency really.
"The position we are in means it is irrelevant what other teams think and do. We know that if we do the business in our remaining games, it will be good enough I am sure. It is down to us. We do not want to get side-tracked or have to worry about other results. Hopefully we can take care of business ourselves."
